UNLUCKY
by mk-xlii
Summary: SET UP IN MODERN DAY. When a formerly force of good betrays the Guardians and turns against them, Jack Frost will find both his status as a Guardian and his life threatened. He soon finds consolation in a boy named Hiccup, who holds the secret to defeating this force of evil, and the key to Jack's heart. (THIS WILL CONTAIN BOY ON BOY ACTION AND LOTS OF HTTYD & ROTG SPOILERS)
1. PROLOGUE

PROLOGUE

"Chains. Magnificent creations. They're strong, reliable, versatile, yet so..." Pitch turned to face the leprechaun, "_movable_. It's almost contradictory, don't you think?"

Pitch walked slowly around the small platform. The sound of the sand scrubbing beneath his feet was enhanced by the deafening silence of the cave.

"But do you know where a chain's strength really lies?" Pitch reached for some of the black sand that covered the floor of the cave. "It lies on its weakest link. _That's_ how you break a chain, Patrick." He started twirling the sand between his fingers, creating shapeless formations. "You break the _weakest_ link." Suddenly, the sand morphed into an intricate snowflake, twirling on Pitch's palm.

"Is that how we'll destroy the Guardians? Breaking their weakest link?"

"Precisely, my friend."

"And which one of 'em aul gits is it?" Patrick asked, never turning his gaze from the snowflake that started to crumble between Pitch's fingers.

"Jack..." Pitch angrily wrapped a fist around the flake, reducing it to sand again, "Frost."

* * *

**THERE! That's my first fanfic piece! It's the prologue for a bigger story! I REALLY hope you liked it, and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE write feedback! LOVE YA, HIJACKERS!**


	2. CHAPTER 1

**Here it is, everyone! The first chapter! it's kinda slow, but it was necessary to lay out the whole setting and characters in the modern universe...**

**ALSO I want to thank all of you who favourited, reviewed, and followed this story! It's been great to see people are actually enjoying the very very VERY short prologue!**

**Don't forget to check my tumblr ( algidsoul . tumblr . com) where I'll post updates, excerpts, teasers, and more! (You don't have to follow, just bookmark it!)**

**THANKS AND ENJOY!**

**(P.S. I've been reading a lot of the modern universe HiJack fanfics out there, and I just want to clear out that I in no way intend to copy or plagiarise any of the content other writers (great writers, I'm sure) have worked on... If you feel I'm copying you, or that similarities are getting uncomfortable, please send me an ask on tumblr or a private message here, or even an email at chubby_bunny_69 at hotmail . com , and with proper evidence, I'll do my best to change that part you don't feel proper here without ruining the continuity and flow of the story)**

* * *

CHAPTER 1

"COME ON, HICCUP!" Stoic yelled from the other side of the field. "JUST _ONE_ MORE YARD, SON!"

Hiccup ran as fast as his legs allowed him to. He was on the verge of vomit from having trained almost all day, he forgot his bottle of water, his limbs hurt from the cold, and on top of that, his father wouldn't stop yelling at him.

This just wasn't his day.

When Hiccup finally made it to the last yard, he collapsed and fell face first on the ground.

"That didn't hurt," he mumbled, still on the floor.

"You need to improve, son," Stoic said, as he tried to pick his son up. "Just… Just try and run faster next time, alright?"

With a violent pat on his son's shoulder, Stoic strode to the center of the field, where the rest of the kids were waiting for instructions.

Having a powerfully built, six-foot tall, ex-football star as a father wasn't easy on Hiccup, but that the coach of the Minnesota Vikings Mixed Football Camp for Teens was also his father was extremely rough.

"Alright, Vikings, gather around," Stoic yelled, waving his hands to call the teenagers. "We, uh… We have a very important match coming soon this season, and… And we need to select the titular team players, so… Um… Gobber?"

Gobber, a huge man with blonde hair missing a hand and a foot, moved closer to Stoic holding a stack of papers with his good hand while ruffling through them with his prosthesis.

"Yeah, so," he started, with a thick Scottish accent, "the people who made it to the team are..." he cleared his throat, "Jorgenson," a strong kid with a pretentious face and black hair moved proudly to the front.

"HA! Didn't I tell you? Of course I'm in," he said, talking to no one in particular, though everybody rolled their eyes.

"Both Thornston twins," Gobber continued.

Two blond twins with evil smirks high-fived and moved next to Snotlout Jorgenson, mouthing, "Awesome," in perfect sync.

"Ingerman."

A tall fat kid with a tiny face moved nervously to the front as well, looking both surprised and relieved.

"Hofferson," Gobber said, shooting a quick glance to Hiccup, who immediately turned to face the floor.

A tall, beautiful blond girl with fierce aspect walked to the front with sheer determination, looking as though the announcement was old news. Astrid Hofferson had been Hiccup's love interest since he was in Primary School. Everybody fancied her; she was the prize every boy her age wanted to win.

Gobber said the names of five more kids, each of them shouting their victory words or simply nodding their achievements. But when it came to the eleventh (and last) titular player, Stoic shot a worried look at Gobber, looking very nervous.

"And last but... um... certainly not least," Gobber said, looking at Stoic one last time, "Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third."

Hiccup's heart fell to his stomach. If he was feeling vaguely nauseous before, now vomit was seconds away. This couldn't be right.

"Uh, I'm sorry," he started, "there must be a mistake. I mean, maybe you misspelled my name, Gobber? Maybe you meant Pickup Tremendous Havoc the Second?" he gestured to a small kid with a permanent nasal congestion.

"No, Hiccup, it's definitely you," Gobber confirmed, sounding almost sympathetic.

"But... but... I'm not even good!" Hiccup bawled, sounding more pitiful than he had intended. "I'm not even the 11th best player here!"

"Hiccup, don't be silly," Stoic laughed nervously. "There are thousands of kids who would _KILL_ to be where you are! Of course you want to be in the team."

"No, dad," Hiccup replied, feeling angst slowly building up inside, "that's the thing: I am _NOT_ good enough to be in the team. I'm not even close, _you_ said it yourself! You said I need to improve! I'm not even -"

"But you'll get better, son! It's just a matter of -"

"No, dad, I won't! I can't be a Viking, it's just not in my blood, I can't -"

"Not in your _blood_?" Stoic spat, "You're the only son of Stoic "the Vast" Haddock! How could it not be...? What would people say if you weren't -" he stopped short.

"Is this what it's all about, then?" Hiccup said, feeling tears building up in his eyes, "What would people say if the son of "the Vast" wasn't as good as him?"

Hiccup didn't wait for an answer. He ran out of the field and went to the boys' locker room. He took off his shirt, kicked a ball that was on the floor and sat on a bench, looking at his hands.

What was he doing? Wasn't being a Viking what he dreamt of from his toddler years? Wasn't seeing his father's proud eyes looking at him making the game-winning touchdown his life goal? Why was he so overly pessimistic now?

Maybe he was... scared?

He stood up and caught his reflection staring back at him with watery eyes. He wasn't strongly built like his father. He was very thin, with free-flowing brown hair and a pair of glasses hanging from his nose. He was short for his age, his arms were thin as toothpicks, and his chest looked like a five-year-old boy's.

People could never believe a boy like him could have been born to Stoic "the Vast" Haddock, the football star that broke hundreds of records in his time, and made millions of dollars doing it.

Now he understood better than ever why.

He suddenly got very cold, and shivering he walked to the showers, stripping his clothes off on his way.

Hiccup stayed under the hot stream for what he thought were ages. He didn't really want to walk out of the locker room, to his tough reality. He was going to play on the "Hairy Hooligans" team, the Minnesota Vikings Mixed Football Camp's most prestigious team.

And he was probably going to make a fool of himself.

* * *

"Uh… where have you been, son?"

"Walking," Hiccup answered as he put his backpack in the closet, "thinking."

"Have you, uh... decided, yet?"

"Yeah," he said, turning to see his father now. "I've decided to join the team... for you, and for me."

Stoic burst into laughter plagued with relief and immediately lifted his son in a bone-crushing embrace. When he finally let go, he awkwardly tried to calm himself.

"That's, uh... very good, son... I'm..." He stopped, looking at Hiccup right in the eyes, "I'm proud."

With that said, he walked out to the kitchen, where the noise of food being clumsily served on a plate flooded the atmosphere.

"That was unexpected," Hiccup muttered to himself, still out of breath. "Uh, dad? I'll be in my room, okay?"

Stoic yelled something from the kitchen, which Hiccup took as an OK and ran up the stairs to his bedroom.

His bedroom was always a mess, but despite the labyrinth of notes, books, and dirty clothes, Hiccup always found his way around it. His father barely spent time at home, let alone his bedroom, so Hiccup never had anyone telling him to clean up his mess.

A small wooden table at one of the room's corners sported a newly bought computer, and next to it, a drawing pad with hundreds of sketches in them. Hiccup's favorite pastime was to simply draw. Not like in art class, where there's a set of guidelines and rules, but more of a free-style diversion from the world. A worn off dragon statue Gobber had bought him on his 13th birthday topped off the workstation.

As usual, the stray black cat Hiccup had found two years ago and brought home was sitting on his bed, licking his paws. When the cat saw Hiccup, he immediately jumped to the floor and curled around Hiccup's legs in a warm salute.

"Hey, Toothless," he said, petting the cat's ears and back. "How's it going, bud? Are you hungry?"

Toothless purred in response, and Hiccup took a sardine can from the drawer and served it full in the cat's plate.

"There you go, Toothless. Eat your fill."

As the cat moved to the plate, Hiccup collapsed on his bed with his arms fully extended. It had been a rough rough day, and all he needed was a good meal and some good night sleep. After practice, he had walked to his favorite park in St. Paul, the Rice Park, to indulge in the snow-white vista. It had snowed about a day ago, and the park was fully covered in a clean white blanket. It was beautiful, and the view simply made Hiccup feel so young, so full of hope, so... innocent. And it was an amazing feeling.

He would probably walk there the next day, since there was no practice. But now, all he wanted to do was sleep. He was slowly dozing off, and the soft purr of Toothless on his belly was the last thing he remembered.

* * *

"SNOW DAY!" Jack screamed at the top of his lungs, skyrocketing through the air above the beautiful city of St. Paul.

Jack Frost was really having fun that night. He had made three adults slip, five children's sleighs lose control and slide wildly in a wonderful adventures, and two dogs' pee freeze. And it was only a day since he arrived!

Not everything was fun and games, though. As a Guardian, he now had _responsibilities_. He couldn't just cause blizzards out of nowhere and make snow mountains on isolated spots across the city. Now, he had to make sure winter had a rather even feel to it. Not so fun, but it was his job.

"Boring, but someone's gotta do it," he uttered to himself, as he soared the night sky over rooftops and trees.

And he had fun almost all day doing it, except for when he saw a kid cry at a park. He wasn't crying out of sadness, he could tell. It was something… deeper. Like when you cry after watching a beautiful sunset or a great film. Not that he ever cried for that, but he had seen it before.

Keeping his distance and cover, he had moved closer to the boy to find out why exactly he cried, but the boy had not muttered a single word. Instead, he had cried for 15 minutes straight in complete silence. When he was done, he looked up, and Jack could see a hopeful and resolved look on his face.

The boy had looked around and after a deep breath, had said, "How much I love snow days."

After that, the boy stood up and walked towards the bus stop, where he got in one and disappeared.

Mortals confused Jack sometimes. He often forgot how much normal people could suffer and lose all hope, but also how little it takes to return that hope back. Jack wished he could see the boy happier next time, though he doubted that would ever happen. He wasn't staying more than a week more.

Now, Jack simply flew in the air, causing snowflakes to fall over the downtown area. He loved watching the people's happy faces underneath him.

"You're welcome, Minnesotans," he said quietly, as he descended on a busy street.

Being finally visible now, Jack had a little trouble getting used to the fact that he could draw a little _too much_ attention to himself. As he walked down the street, several groups of girls giggled and directed flirty looks at him. Jack liked the feeling, but he also missed the privacy sometimes. Those days of invisibly staring were over, for good or for bad.

The girls made him lose his focus and he smacked into an elderly couple. After apologizing to the enraged deuce, Jack moved to a deserted park and simply walked alone, until…

"Having fun, mate?"

Jack smiled. "Wasn't expecting company, Bunny."

Jack turned around to see the huge Australian rabbit leaning cockily on a tree, admiring his wooden boomerang.

"How's Easter coming off, pal?"

"Pull your head in, mate," Bunnymund said, smiling. "How's it going, Jack?"

Jack pulled Bunny into a tight embrace and quickly let go. It was nice to see the old carrot-sucker. It had been almost three months since they last saw each other, and seeing a familiar face was very comforting, even if it was Bunny's hubristic one.

"What brings you here, pal? Isn't Easter just around the corner?" Jack half-closed his eyes. "Or are you here to pull me in?"

"Nah, chill, mate," Bunny replied. "I was just having a blue with a tough egg at the Warren, and I thought, 'Hey, I haven't seen that larrikin in a long time,' and…" Bunny sighed.

"What?"

"A'right, truth is, mate, we're worried," Bunny had changed into a serious tone. "There are rumors that Pitch is back at it, and from what happened last time, if there's a bloke he's gonna want down is…"

"Me," Jack finished. "Are you for real here, or…?"

"I'm deadset serious, mate."

Silence fell between them. If Pitch was back to business, then that meant everyone was in danger. This was serious.

"Well, thank you, Bunny, for… for the heads-up."

"No worries, mate," Bunny said, tapping the floor with his big foot. Immediately, a perfectly round hole appeared beneath him. "Gotta make a quid, now! Just be careful, 'right? And keep an eye open for that no-hoper!"

He stopped short before jumping, and added, "Oh, there's one more thing. One of us – I mean, one of the mythical figures has gone missing…"

"What, the groundhog's on holiday?"

"Nah, it's the leprechaun… He got as full as a goog a couple of days ago, and –"

"Meaning?"

"Meaning he got drunk, mate!" Bunny hollered annoyed. "Point is, he's been missing ever since. St. Patrick's Day is coming soon, and if we don't find him… well, we're gonna have a shit house holiday. See ya, mate!"

The Easter Bunny hopped in the hole and it immediately closed after him.

"So he cares," Jack said, grinning to himself.

But a sound he never thought he would listen again made him lose the smile that managed to appear in his face. A sound so terrifying and enraging that almost made him lose his balance: it was the sound of a nightmare.

He looked around for the horse-like creature, but discovered nothing in the darkness. Paying close attention, he stood frozen like a statue for far too long, but no hint of the nightmare appeared.

Maybe he had imagined it. But, then again, the rumors…

He thought of warning the Guardians, but after imagining everyone's worried look, he decided against it. He just had to keep his eyes wide open.

Very, very open.

* * *

"You found him?" Pitch asked one of the black horses that entered the cave. "Where is he, dear?"

The horse whispered the answer to the Bogeyman, making a small smile twirl on his face.

"St. Paul, Minnesota," he repeated, looking at the globe on the cave's center. "Good. Now go and fetch the leprechaun. Tell him the time has come."

The nightmare galloped fiercely out of the cave, leaving Pitch on his own.

"Your end is coming soon, Frost," he said, smiling even more. "Your end is near, Guardians."

He laughed like a maniac, visualizing the pale body of the Winter Sprite twisting in agony.

He was going to win this time around. The world would believe again in the Bogeyman.


	3. CHAPTER 2

**Here is is, everyone! The next chapter to my story! It's been a pleasure writing it, and I hope it is a pleasure reading it!**

**I want to thank everyone who's read the story and enjoyed it, but specially the 15 followers and 8 favourites I've gained in the last three days! You make me want to keep writing this story, people! I'm also grateful for the great reviews I've read!**

**Keep giving me feedback, everyone! It REALLY helps, believe me!**

**Now, without further ado, enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER 2

_Berk_ was beautiful during winter times. All the houses in the private suburb just 20 minutes from downtown St. Paul had their roofs covered in snow, and the streets didn't have a different fate. All the neighbors got organized about a month before winter struck to delegate: some people (usually teenagers) would be in charge of swiping the snow off the streets, other people would melt the snow off the porches, while others were in charge of the holidays' reunions and festivities. Unsurprisingly, though, it was Hiccup's father, Stoic, the president of the neighbors' board.

Everyone got tasks handled to during the month of November; everyone, except Hiccup. He had tried fighting for some, but didn't get any. And now, during the first few weeks of January, he tried yet again.

"Dad, I'm just as capable as the other kids – you just have to let me try, I won't –"

"_Try_?" Stoic advanced with determination from the Great Hall (a massive state-of-the-art events building at the center of _Berk_). "Hiccup, two years ago you burned down Mr. Bucket's porch, and just _last_ year you managed to lose all of Mrs. Hawthorne's cats!"

"Dad, that was an accident, they were scared by the flamethrower, I just –"

"Hiccup, letting you out there is a menace for both _Berk_ and the entire city, I can't take the –"

"But everyone's got something to do, it's unfair –"

"_LOOK_, Hiccup!" Stoic yelled, stopping in front of his son. "I've got enough problems right now! The team's not even slightly ready, winter's already here, and on top of that, _you_ want to be let out _there_! Can't you see I've got _bigger_ issues?"

Hiccup's eyes suddenly stung with tears, not because he was being yelled at (he was used to it by now), but because he felt so inefficient, so helpless, so… _unfit_.

"I see, dad," he said, turning around. He immediately ran out of his father's reach, despite Stoic's loud calling.

"Don't forget today's training!" was the last thing he heard.

* * *

Hiccup ran for an hour straight. It surprised him the endurance he seemed to have, probably the fruits of all the hard training. He thought he was running without direction, but soon found out it wasn't like that when Hiccup found himself at Gobber's car garage.

Besides being the secondary coach with Stoic at the MVMFC, Gobber owned and worked at a car repair shop. That's how he had lost both his left arm and his right foot: in welding and cutting accidents, respectively. He'd often joke about losing his limbs to dragons.

"Hey, Hiccup! Nice seeing you here!"

"Hey, Gobber," Hiccup said, trying to sound as fine as he could. "What are you doing?"

"Fixing the exhaust pipe of this _beauty_," he said, gesturing to an old grey Mustang GT500 Shelby. "When I'm done with it, it'll be ready for the exhibition."

"Still working on _that _thing, Gobber? Don't you think it's a little… _excessive_?"

Gobber raised a brow. "What's got into ya? You've never criticized my work before," he paused. "You alright, Hic?"

"You're right, Gobber, I'm sorry," Hiccup gave up, rubbing his forehead. "It's just that my dad –"

"Of course," Gobber said, rolling his eyes and putting down the soldering gun.

"Why doesn't he ever listen, Gobber? It's like –"

"Runs in the family."

"—I'm invisible or something! He never let's me do anything –"

"That's for your own good, Hic… and those around you…"

"—and then he looks all disappointed and angry –"

"He always does."

"—and it hurts –" Hiccup stopped, feeling a knot in his throat.

Gobber sighed. "Look, Hiccup. Your father loves you _very _much. He cares about you; he just cares a _little_ bit more about the _pressing_ matters."

"I just wish he had a little faith in me."

"He _does_! Didn't he give you that position in the team? He could've chosen a much better player, someone more prepared, someone with the abilities to play football, someone –"

"_THANK_ you, for summing that up," Hiccup said, sarcastically.

"Look, point is, he gave you a chance," Gobber said, as he put his mask on again. "Try not to waste it."

* * *

"Oh boy, it's _cold_!" Hiccup yelped, clenching his coat closer and tightening the knot on his scarf.

Rubbing his arms against his chest, Hiccup sat on a frozen bench and stared at the snow-covered park.

Rice Park was _by far_ his favorite park in all St. Paul; maybe because he learned here how to draw, maybe because he came here to cry and smile, or maybe just because it was beautiful during any season. The statues, the memorials, everything here seemed to know him very well.

With some effort, he took out of his bag a small sketchpad and a pen, and began to draw. A long line first, which seemed to curve with lifelike nature. A more complex curved line here, some straight lines there, and a little circle for the head. The spikes had to be small but deadly, the teeth sharp and uneven. Was that a nail or a claw? The drawing seemed to be being discovered by Hiccup's pen as every stroke and outline cut the paper into dark ink rivers.

With a small turn of his head, Hiccup admired his piece of art. "Needs a little texture…"

A scale here, a spike there; the rough skin started to acquire a more natural feel to it. With a smile, Hiccup let out a small sigh, as the dragon he just drew seemed to become alive in the page.

"What's your name, buddy?" he said, as he unconsciously wrote the words _Deadly Nadder_ at the bottom of the page.

* * *

This kid's face was amazing. The way a smile slowly twisted his lips as he worked, or the occasional tongue out as he focused more on his drawing.

_But what's he drawing?_

Jack moved closer to the kid from behind the bushes. He had been playing around the park with some kids, throwing snowballs at them, when suddenly the kid had appeared. Jack had recognized him immediately: the crying kid from the other day.

With stealthy pace, Jack sneaked around the bushes and caught a peek at the kid's notebook.

_A dragon? Aren't you a bit old for that, kid?_

But the drawing was incredibly… _beautiful_. The way the creature seemed to flap its wings, the look of mischief on its face, everything was perfectly detailed and surprisingly well drawn. This kid had talent, no doubt. A talent Jack hadn't seen in his 318 years of solitude. It was simply amazing.

"You're _amazing_."

Jack's heart raced wildly as he swiftly moved behind a tree to get cover. _Had he seen him? Was he breaking any rule? _

"Shit!" he said under his breath.

Jack swallowed harshly and decided to briefly peer at the kid. He seemed confused. _He _did_ hear me! _But was that a bad thing? Jack realized he wanted this kid to see him, to make himself known to him. To… _impress him?_

* * *

"Anybody out there?" Hiccup asked, looking behind his back.

He was _sure_ he had heard something, or someone. He hadn't imagined it; he seldom imagined things.

"Alright, then… Stay hidden, you mysterious soul."

"Mysterious? Try enigmatic!"

Hiccup turned around instantly, looking for the source of the quip. And he found him.

A tall, thin boy with snow-white hair and deep blue eyes was staring at him, leaning on a tree and looking very full of himself. He was sporting nothing more than a blue hoodie, khaki skin-tight pants, an old battered wooden staff, and… _no shoes?_

"Ok, I _did _imagine it…" Hiccup said to himself, rubbing his eyes behind the dark frames of his glasses. What had he eaten? Did he touch something she shouldn't have? Did… _Did someone drug me?_

The last thought scared him so much he started checking his pulse, even though he had no idea what to look for. _Oh, dear… I should go to a hospital!_

As he quickly stood up, the strange kid said, "Whoa! Where's the fire, kid?"

"Don't talk to me, you… you _evil_ hallucination!"

"Bro, I've been called many things before, but hallucination…! That's low, man," the kid joked, smiling even more.

"Just – Just get away from me, you – what even _are _you?"

"I'm Frost," the kid answered, stretching an arm towards Hiccup, "_Jack_ Frost," he finished with a wink.

"Oh – Oh, I see what you did there," Hiccup said, a little relieved. "Where's the camera? What – aren't the holidays a little too far behind us for these pranks? What, is Santa coming too?" _This has to be a joke_, Hiccup thought, as he looked for a camera or something nearby.

"Santa? Only is you've been good," he winked again.

"Wha – Okay, kid, this lost the funny a while back ago, so… If you excuse me, I'll be – What are you doing?"

The kid was blocking Hiccup's way as he tried to leave. Hiccup was starting to lose the patience.

"I'm not a joke, kid," _Jack Frost _said, his blue eyes looking directly into Hiccup's green ones.

Hiccup took a step backwards, and Jack a step forward. _This kid's getting too close… _

"Uh, I'm sorry – Have you ever heard of 'personal space'?"

"Feeling uncomfortable, uh – uh, I'm sorry, what's your name, again?"

"I never said it," Hiccup said, unamused, "and I don't think I'll say it to you –"

"That's playing dirty, kid… I gave you mine, after all!"

"Not your real one, so –"

"Not _REAL_?" the kid suddenly held his staff like a firearm, aiming it to a tree.

Hiccup almost fell backwards when, the moment the staff touched the tree's bark, fernlike patterns scattered around its trunk. It was a majestic event to watch… _if I wasn't stoned!_

"Alright, that confirms it, I'm hallucinating!" Hiccup sighed, holding his head. Whatever this strange drug was, it sure was powerful.

"Gee, it takes something to make you believe, huh?" Jack said, leaning on his staff. "Why not try to pinch yourself?"

"That wouldn't – That's not gonna un-_drug_ me, is it!"

* * *

"You're not drugged, kid," Jack sighed, moving closer to the kid.

This little fella was amazingly funny, with his banter and all. He had brown locks that were kept messy; apple green eyes peering through a set of glasses, and freckles everywhere. He sure was stubborn, though.

"Fine, let's go to the hospital," Jack conceded, holding the kid from the shoulders and turning him around.

"Wait, what are you doing?" the kid asked, sounding more nervous by the second, "How come – I can feel you, that's not – I – I don't think you can _feel_ hallucinations, can you?"

"I told you before, kid: I'm not a hallucination."

"Then – What _are _you?"

Jack turned the kid around so he could face him, and tried to display his most sincere face. "I'm the Spirit of Winter, the Sprite of Fun, I'm – I'm _really_ Jack Frost." He then placed a palm in front of his mouth and blew.

A single perfectly formed blue snowflake appeared out of his palm and struck the kid directly between his eyes. Understanding and a slight smile flashed upon the kid's face, and Jack relaxed.

"Oh my God," the kid let out, with eyes big with amazement. "You _are_ Jack Frost."

"Wow, big news, buddy," Jack said, with a huge smirk on his face.

* * *

"So… You control winter, snow, et al?" Hiccup asked curiously, as he sipped his hot cocoa.

"Yep, and frost on windows, sometimes blizzards, and… watch," Jack said, as he formed a perfect snowball out of thin air and threw it from the window to a passing neighbor.

The man lost his balanced and slipped on the icy sidewalk. Immediately, he stood up, looking everywhere for the mischief-maker.

Both kids laughed hysterically in Hiccup's bedroom, clenching their aching stomachs with both hands.

There was something in Jack that made Hiccup trust him; he couldn't tell what, but Jack made him feel… fresh, anew, innocent. But Jack Frost also had something that made Hiccup think twice before allowing him into his house. He had the sudden feeling that the house would end up broken down very soon.

"And… have you always been like this?"

"Uh… It's kind of a long story, man. I was once a kid, uh – just like you – and then," Jack swallowed, "I _died_, I guess. When I woke up, I was… Jack Frost."

"God, I'm sorry" Hiccup said, looking down at his mug. "Wait – So you stayed the same age you died in?"

"Yeah, seventeen!"

"Hmm," Hiccup let out, feeling a little intrusive but largely curious. "And how long ago did you –?"

"Around three hundred years!" Jack answered, proudly.

"Wow," Hiccup stared at the frost youth with huge eyes. "And the Tooth Fairy, Santa, and all that – Are they –?"

"Real, real, real."

Hiccup had his mouth wide open now.

"Exactly," Jack agreed, chuckling.

Both teenagers stood silent for some time, just taking in everything they'd discussed for the last half hour, sipping their hot cocoa (or at least Hiccup's was, Jack had intentionally frozen his) every now and then.

"Alright, enough about me," Jack said, putting his mug down on the windowsill he was sitting on. "You're an awesome artist, kid."

"Uh, really? That's – That wasn't even my best shot at it."

"No, you're really good, I could tell… Just one question," Jack leaned closer. "Why dragons?"

Jack had gestured to the walls. Hiccup's bedroom's walls were hidden behind hundreds of pages of all sorts of sizes and types, but all with a single theme: dragons. Small dragons, big dragons, colored dragons; every single paper had one or two on it.

"Well," Hiccup started, looking at his own walls too, "that's the first thing I learned to draw, y'know? That's the first think I remember drawing. An old man at a park – the park we met in – taught me how to, and I've been making, perfecting, and creating dragons ever since."

"Cool, _very_ cool."

"Thanks," Hiccup said, smiling again.

"And, umm – big football fan?" Jack pointed at Hiccup's football equipment, which lied scattered across the corner.

"Uh, yeah… Umm –"

Suddenly, Toothless appeared at the window, holding a dead mouse in its mouth.

"Hey, who have we got here?"

"Well, Jack, meet Toothless," Hiccup stood up and picked the black cat from the windowsill. "Toothless, this is Jack Frost."

As Hiccup laid Toothless on the floor, both cat and sprite stared at each other intently. Toothless seemed to be very interested in the snow-haired boy, as he let go of his mouse and tipped his head from side to side, sitting on the floor.

Jack then moved to caress Toothless's ears, making the cat close its eyes with pleasure. "Hey, bud, how are you? How are you?"

"You must be something special, Jack; Toothless doesn't really get along with strangers that easily."

"That's because I'm lovable, kid," Jack looked up, winking at Hiccup.

"HA, very funny," Hiccup said, turning awkwardly away in a shot, looking for an excuse to take his eyes off the young sprite.

Jack only chuckled, but suddenly let out a loud gasp.

Hiccup turned around. "Yeah, he lost it when I found him."

Jack seemed worried. "Found him?"

"Yeah. I was taking out the trash when suddenly a car stopped in front of my house, because it had hit a stray cat. When we went to see, the cat was bleeding copiously. So we took him to the vet, and she said they had to cut its right back paw off," Hiccup sighed. "Gob – a friend of ours made the prosthesis. He's very good with cars and machines, so…"

Toothless suddenly looked at Hiccup, as if he knew what they were talking about. He walked to his master's feet and started to curl against Hiccup's legs.

"I love him very much, y'know…"

Jack chuckled. "Why _Toothless_, though?"

"Oh, he wasn't exactly a baby when we found him, but he still hadn't got his teeth. The vet said it was strange to see a cat two months old with a gummy mouth, so I named him _Toothless_."

"Cute," Jack smiled, turning at the window. Suddenly, he gasped again, "Wow, it's very late! I – I should probably get going, man…"

"What, the Spirit of Winter and Fun can't go out after dark?" Hiccup asked, jokingly.

"Ha, ha, very funny, kid," Jack said, folding his arms across his chest and looking at Hiccup with pretend disdain. "I was actually thinking about you. I mean, isn't your father coming home or something? Don't you think it'd be strange if his son was hanging around a guy in his room with little clothes on?" Jack smirked and winked.

Fighting an urge to turn away, Hiccup waved his hand. "No, my dad's training, he won't be back until – SHIT!"

"What, what's wrong?"

"I was supposed to be at – he's gonna kill me, I – crap _crap CRAP_!"

Hiccup looked at his watch. _Shit, I'm not even gonna make it! _His heart fell way deep into his chest and his stomach suddenly felt empty. He was feeling ill.

"Whoa, you look pale, bro," Jack noticed, holding Hiccup and helping him sit on the bed. "You were supposed to be training today?"

With a dry mouth, Hiccup answered, "Yeah."

"And you forgot, huh?" Jack seemed very amused by it, all of a sudden.

Hiccup nodded, putting his face in his palms. He had failed his father once more.

"Oh, what a surprise," he said between his fingers. "I've let down my father – _YET_ again. Aw, he's gonna kill me – you'll see it tomorrow in the news –" he suddenly adopted the voice of a television newscaster. "In other news, a _very_ disappointed father kills his ever-failing-in-life son in a depression attack. We all understand him, of course."

"Don't worry, bro, I'm sure it'll be all right, you'll see."

"Ugh, and all because I wanted to draw _dragons – _what a joke…!"

* * *

_This kid's in trouble, probably because of me._

Jack moved to rub the kid's back. He remembered the first time he saw this kid at the park, sobbing, and remembered thinking he never wanted to see the kid unhappy again. But he wasn't even sure what to say, he wasn't the Sprite of Prudence, or the Spirit of Comfort; he was the _goddamn_ Fun Sprite!

"Hey, don't worry, kid! I'm sure you'll be fine! You're very talented, I'm sure your father feels very proud of you – _Toothless_ feels very proud of you, right bud?"

Toothless let out a soft purr and continued nibbling the mouse.

"See?" _This isn't helping. _"You never told me your name, by the way."

The kid looked up at Jack, green eyes glistening through the glasses. "Hic – Hiccup. My name is Hiccup."

Jack felt the life leaving him as he used all his strength to control a laugh. "Hiccup, it's – it's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same, Jack," said Hiccup, patting Jack's back.

"Actually," Jack continued, seeing the mood was lightening up, "I feel very _very _lucky to meet you, Hiccup. You are a _wonderful_ person."

And with that, Jack held Hiccup in the warmest embrace his cold persona could allow. He felt Hiccup tense at first, but then relax as he corresponded the hug.

Hiccup chuckled lightly. "_Luck_…" he whispered, and Jack could _hear_ him smile.

* * *

"_Luck_," Patrick spat with disgust, as he packed his four-leaf clover stack into a green bag and closed it with a small lock. "_That's_ what all mortals have run out of today… _Luck_!"

Patrick mac T-áhd was a very short Irish man with red hair and matching beard. He loved dressing in harmonizing green suit and hat, and owned a wonderful golden ring with the word _luck_ embedded on it. He was the Sprite of Good Luck and Fortune. He was responsible for all things lucky, and he even had his own holiday: St. Patrick's Day. He supplied luck to the world, and that's why the Man in the Moon had chosen him.

But that was about to change forever.

Since their inception, the Guardians had cherished all sorts of fame and glory. Kids saw them, they had their own private personal festivities, and everybody worshiped them like _goddam_ _gods_!

Patrick had always been jealous of them, but understood that nothing he could ever do was going to bring them down. He was the Sprite of Good Fortune, after all!

But tables were about to turn, for Patrick had been _fortunate_ enough to find someone who could change his _luck_. That someone was Pitch Black… the Nightmare King.

Master of all things creepy and scary, the Bogeyman had offered a way to end with the Guardians.

"I hold nightmare powder," he had said on their first meeting, a couple of weeks ago. "You, lucky charms. Together, we could create a terrible and unstoppable force that would finish those idiots once and for all!"

"Yer talking nonsense, mate," the leprechaun had said, drinking more of his beer.

"Think about it, Patrick. What's misfortune but a 'nightmarish luck'?"

"Yer a right eejit, you know that, right?"

"Haven't you ever wanted to see the Guardians humiliated? Don't you want the power and glory they have?"

"They're the _fecking _Guardians, mate! The gobdaws got it all figured out!"

Pitch smiled. "What they don't count on is," he put a finger on Patrick's shoulder, "one of the good lot betraying them."

Patrick knew the old gom wasn't wrong. Pitch had a point: their powers combined would create a _monstrous nightmare_.

"What'dya suggest we do, then?"

* * *

Patrick was now heading somewhere to the east, having been summoned by one of the nightmare horses to Pitch's lair. He was anxious to start the plan they had created to bring down the Guardians. He had never liked that "_frosty aul git_", anyway.

Behind a cauldron full of coins lied a single trapdoor. Entering the trapdoor would create a loophole that would allow the leprechaun to appear wherever he wanted; with the option of going back if he was at exactly the same place he arrived.

Thinking of Pitch and his nightmares, Patrick got inside the trapdoor and immediately felt light as a feather. Traveling through the rainbow-like passageway had never been easy on his stomach, but with the current excitement, he couldn't feel the effects of moving at light speed.

Patrick stopped suddenly, and felt the ground materialize beneath his feet.

He was in a very dark and cold cave.

"Welcome, Patrick," Pitch said behind him. He was carrying a small black wooden box with a small skull carved on it. "Are you ready? Did you bring them?"

Patrick nodded, taking out the clovers out of his bag. The leprechaun could create good luck with his own hands, but the clovers allowed him to leave the luck even if he wasn't there. That originated the myth that _all_ four-leaf clovers were lucky.

Taking a handful of black sand out of the wooden box, Pitch moved towards the jar of clovers and slowly scattered the sand all over them.

The clovers slowly started to die and twirl, but then were replaced by new dusty black clovers.

"Eat it," the Nightmare King ordered.

"What – wait – we never –"

But Pitch had used uncommon strength to force the leprechaun's head into the jar. And despite Patrick's resistance, a small clover managed to enter the man's mouth.

Immediately, Patrick started to curl and twist in agony. His bones felt like they were being broken and fixed at the same time, his bright red hair fell off of his head, and his nails turned a sickly purple.

Pitch simply glanced down at the scene, with a slight look of curiosity in his face.

When the pain had ceased, Patrick stood up and slowly moved away of the Bogeyman. He was feeling strange, almost… indestructible.

"How does it feel, my friend?"

Patrick turned to see Pitch, and immediately the latter started moving backwards. Pitch then stumbled with a rock and fell on his backside. A scream of pain tore the cave's peace. Pitch raised an arm and Patrick saw a sharp rock piercing through one of his hands.

Pitch looked at it, and immediately started laughing. "Well, that's _unfortunate_."

Patrick mac T-áhd had successfully become the _Demon of Bad Luck_.

* * *

**So, what do you think of the leprechaun being the villain? :3 Feedback please, pretty please!**


	4. CHAPTER 3

**Hello, everybody! First of all, let me apologise for the lack of quick updates. I've had a rough week, with school starting and me catching a virus, but let me tell you I just finished this chapter with the little time I've got free!**

**I also want to thank for the new favs, follows, and reviews! Really, you guys are the reason I keep writing this!**

**Here I give you a very tender yet troubling chapter. It wasn't easy to write, because I wanted it to be great! Unfortunately, since I'm not much of a good writer, I ended up having _this_.**

**So here it is, everyone! Enjoy!**

**And please please please keep writing those great reviews and hitting those follow and favourite buttons!  
**

* * *

CHAPTER 3

"Dad, I'm –"

"Save it, Hiccup."

"—sorry, I swear I forgot, you must –"

"You're out of the team, Hiccup."

Hiccup felt every muscle in his body paralyze. _Out of the team?_ This couldn't be happening to him.

"Dad, listen, please, give me –"

"_Another chance_? So you blow it up again? I can't let the team –"

"Please, dad, I promise, I _promise_ I'll do my best, I won't miss any practice, and I'll run as –"

"Hiccup, _ENOUGH_!" Stoic hollered, placing his face dangerously close to his son's. Toothless hissed dangerously at a corner. "Just – enough of _this_. You – you just – you're making it _tougher_ on me," he finished, rubbing his face with his huge hand and turning around.

"Dad, please, listen to me," Hiccup said, trying to keep up behind his father's enormous footsteps. "One more chance, that is all I ask for, it's all I want, please –"

"Why are you so interested in being a part of the team all of the sudden?"

"Because – because I don't want to be a disappointment to you, anymore."

Stoic stopped short before replying. He looked at his son's face for far longer than he had meant to. When he finally spoke, his voice was hoarser than ever. "I'll – I'll think about it."

And with that, Stoic moved out of the room. Hiccup stood silently standing on the same spot until he heard the thump of the door and the steady rumble of his father's car. He then collapsed on a chair and held his face on his hands, breathing slowly, as his cat made his way up to Hiccup's legs.

* * *

Stoic's car slowly moved backwards through the porch and then straight through the street until it was nothing but a small beam of light. The night was colder than usual, even during winter, and a weak but steady snowfall was covering the streets with cotton-like structures that slowly became mountains of pure white. A streetlamp flickered on and off, giving the peaceful night an eerie impression.

Jack had sit on a bench, right in front of his new friend's house. He had heard every single word Hiccup and his father had screamed to each other, and when the two figures suddenly appeared through the living room's window, his stomach curled in pain. Hiccup's worrying face had been painful to watch, but his defeated stern gaze at the nothingness in the room became completely and utterly agonizing. And the worst thing was, Jack Frost had no idea what he could do to lighten the situation. He felt somewhat guilty, thinking it was because of his little stunt at the park that the brunette had forgotten about this training session.

But suddenly, an idea had struck Jack's head.

As Stoic had walked out of the house, Jack blew out of thin air a single perfectly- and intricately-woven snowflake right between the big redheaded man's eyes. Immediately, the grave expression on Stoic's face had been replaced by a pleased, relaxed smile. The huge man with such a smile had turned into an amusing thing to behold, but Jack had watched Stoic get in his car and drive away.

He was free now to enter the house.

Jack felt a very keen urge to kick the door open, run to Hiccup's presence, and hold him into the tightest and warmest embrace he could possibly make. At times like these, he envied North and his huge, fuzzy, loving hugs.

He held himself together, though, and slowly moved to the doorway… and knocked with his staff.

Or maybe he should've rung the doorbell.

_Where is that damn thing? _

Jack started getting very nervous, something he hadn't experienced in a long time. _What the hell? I'm the goddamn Frost Sprite, I don't get nervous!_

He knocked again.

And again.

His reflection looked madly back at him through the window's glass on the door. Jack instantly went to his hair, which was a total mess. Frowning, he tried to fix it, vainly pushing it with his hand towards the head.

He then noticed he was empty-handed.

_Shit, I should've brought something! _He looked in the vicinity for something he could use as a gift, but failed to spot something that – _Hiccup would deserve? _

He ended up picking a flower from the pot next to the door and blowing on it. The surface of the flower's petals and stem immediately froze into intricate patterns and because a beautiful colored ice sculpture. He looked at his creation with a sudden burst of vanity. _Bet he couldn't give me something like this…!_

Getting slightly nervous again, he rang the doorbell this time. Three times. In desperate little movements.

He was about to go for a fourth round when the door abruptly burst open.

* * *

"J—Jack?" Hiccup felt as if he'd just seen a ghost.

"HEY – ahem – _hey_, Hic," Jack had suddenly reclined on the doorframe, with a hand behind his back and the other of the back of his neck holding his staff, with a huge grin plastered on his face. "I – uh – I was walking down the neighborhood and I thought, 'Hey, I could visit that kid again, you know?' and I really couldn't remember your house's number, so I – uh – I took a wild guess and –"

"Wanna come in?"

"Uh – sure, why not?" he said, waiting nothing more to enter the house with resolved strides. As he entered the living room, Toothless jumped off a sofa and immediately curled around Jack's legs.

"Want something to eat, or…?"

"Uh – I'm cool, I'm cool, thanks, Hic."

Hiccup watched Jack as he scrutinized again every little detail on the house, touching almost everything in his reach. He was like a small child in a newly opened toy store just before Christmas.

"Oh, uh – Hic, I brought you this," Jack said, extending his arm. In his hand was the most stunning ice sculpture Hiccup had ever seen. It was a red rose, with its petals curved upward in a magnificent contortion.

"Wow," Hiccup whispered as he held the freezing rose in his hand. "Thank you, Jack – you really didn't have to – this is –"

"I know, I know, you can thank me later," Jack said, smiling warmly and moving closer to Hiccup. He was next to him when he titled his head on Hiccup's. "Let's go upstairs."

Hiccup opened his eyes wide as he felt his face flush with color. "Uh – okay, just let me –"

The brunette kid put the frozen rose in the freezer and was then literally dragged by Jack upstairs, Toothless following closely behind them.

As they got to his room, Hiccup was shocked to find himself caught in a tight embrace by the much taller youth. He was even more shocked when he returned the hug, realizing that not only it was polite to do so, but that he was also in desperate need for such a hug.

After what seemed to be hours, they finally let go. Hiccup realized he didn't want the hug to ever end. Jack was so… _loving. I need loving in my life; what harm could it make?_

"I saw what happened with your father earlier," Jack said solemnly.

"You – You saw that?"

"Yeah, I was," he smiled, "_casually_ walking nearby when I heard the yelling." Jack twisted his mouth in sympathy. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," Hiccup shrugged. "You – You're here now, right?" He tried to smile. _Did I just say that?_

The last phrase seemed to brighten Jack's face, as his smile suddenly emerged out of his formerly stern glance. "Yep, I'm here for you, kiddo!"

Hiccup smiled wider, looking straight into the other teen's light-blue eyes. They were truly a wonderful thing to witness. The shape, the color, the face, they were all simply… _perfect_.

But the vibrations of his phone on the desk broke the moment. Both teenagers and the cat turned to see the slender phone, now silent, with the screen lit.

"Sorry, let me just –"

Hiccup crawled over the bed to the desk, and reached for his phone. But as he passed a finger through the touchscreen, he caught Jack's big eyes looking at the phone as well, right beside him. His expression seemed to be struck by curiosity and awe. Hiccup smiled at his… _adorable face… no, no – at his—face._

"Like phones?" Hiccup asked, trying to sound cool.

"What? Oh!" Jack chuckled. "Yeah, I'm always fascinated by your artifacts. They're so… clever, and shiny, and handy. Almost magical, really."

Hiccup grinned. "Wanna try it, big boy?"

Jack seemed delighted. "What – really? – No, I'll probably ruin it, or something –"

"Oh, don't be silly, here!" Hiccup tossed the phone to Jack, who caught it with flawless reflexes.

But then he stared at the black screen, unsure, it seemed, of what to do next. He awkwardly looked back at Hiccup.

"Press the button on the top right edge."

As he did, the phones lit up and reflected it's light on Jack's eyes.

"Now, do what it says there!"

Jack's pale cheeks suddenly filled with very subtle blush, as he looked at his knees. "I, uh – You better come do it, Hic, I just—"

"Okay, give it to me," Hiccup said, as he moved over the bed next to his cold friend. He then slid his finger through the screen and the phone let out the unblocking click sound. "So, what do you want to do? Wanna text, or use the Internet –?"

"Um – why was this thing vibrating?"

"Oh, that's because I got a _text message_," Hiccup explained, as he opened the texts application. "See? It's a new text from – _Shit!_"

Hiccup took the phone away from Jack and immediately started tapping on the screen.

"Who was it?"

"It was Astrid, she wants to –"

"Astrid?" Jack inquired, grinning from ear to ear. "You never mentioned any _Astrid_, lover boy!" He then tackled the smaller boy, both falling on the bed. Toothless joined the pair, mistaking Jack's scare tactics for a playful game. "Speak now or regret it!"

Hiccup laughed. "She's my – uh – she's part of my football team –"

"And why is she texting _you_ this late at night, huh?"

"I don't know, she never does," Hiccup chuckled, tapping the screen of his phone again. "There, see? I'm asking why she's doing it!" Hiccup put the screen right in front of Jack's face.

Jack's dodgy eyes looked at the screen, and his cheeks flushed with color again as he muttered, "Yeah, yeah, I see…"

Something suddenly clicked in Hiccup's mind, and he felt overwhelmed by his unexpected new finding. "Wait – Read what it says in there."

"Uh, it – it says what you said, that –"

"Jack? What does it say?"

"It, uh – it –" Jack sighed, dropping his gaze as his cheeks blushed even more. "Okay, truth is – I can't read, 'kay?"

As Jack moved to sit, facing the wall with his gaze still low, Hiccup felt a sting of guilt in his chest. "And – And why didn't you tell me before?"

"I – I don't usually – It's embarrassing, alright?"

"Jack," Hiccup said, placing himself right in front of Jack's face. He slowly tried to lift Jack's chin up, but the snow-haired teen simply jerked away. "Jack, there's nothing to be embarrassed with me, okay?"

Finally, the blue eyes looked up at the green ones. Hiccup didn't know what happened then, but they seemed to… connect. Hiccup felt he had known Jack all his life, and that moment suddenly became… _perfect_.

And Jack kissed Hiccup.

It was soft. It was cold. It was perfect. But it was short-lived, because despite he fought with all his strength to stay like that, his lips brushing ever so gently the other teen's, his eyes closed with delight in that picture-perfect moment, Hiccup jerked away.

"I am _so _sorry, Hiccup, I – I really don't know where that –"

Hiccup locked his lips again against the Winter Spirit's ones, now moving closer than he had ever been with him (with anyone, for that matter), slowly running his fingers through snow-white hair, as Jack gently returned the gesture. Hiccup felt his heart beat faster and faster, his breathing run frantically, and a smile slowly form at the corners of his lips.

* * *

"—came from," Jack finished, as they slowly let go.

Jack's chest was fluttering with emotions. He wanted to scream, he wanted to run, he wanted to jump with joy. He wanted to make blizzards and fly over rooftops. He had no idea why, but this kid had completely changed his life. Because he had screamed and run and jumped, he'd made blizzards and flown over rooftops, and nothing, _nothing_ compared to the happiness he felt right now. He felt complete, yet broken in half; he felt his chest tighten and loosen. He felt more alive than ever.

Hiccup slowly opened his eyes again, a small smile on his mouth. Jack smiled even more, and kissed Hiccup on the nose, as he held the younger teen in his arms.

"I don't know how to tell you this, but… You're so cute, Hic."

"Well, it seems you just found a way to, huh?"

Both boys giggled, never looking away from each other.

"What are we doing, Hic? This is –"

"I know, it's so _wrong_ but feels so _right_ – _you_ feel right, I –"

"—we barely know each other, and I'm a _Guardian_, but –"

"—this is so weird, I'm a guy – and you're _definitely_ a guy, but –"

"I like you," both said in unison.

Hiccup's face lit up, smiling awkwardly, looking into Jack's blue eyes. The Spirit of Fun felt his chest swelling with excitement, with joy, with… _expectation_. He'd never had anyone in his arms as he did right now, and that made him feel the luckiest being on the planet.

Jack kissed Hiccup on the forehead, and held him tighter.

"Jack – Jack, are we breaking any rules? Like, is it allowed for mythical creatures to be with –"

"I don't know, Hic," Jack said, taken aback. "I really don't know, but," Jack faced Hiccup once again. "I _really_ like you, okay? And – And if you're willing to take the risk with me, I –"

"I'm a Viking," Hiccup smiled. "Risks are an occupational hazard."

Jack laughed and kissed Hiccup once again. They moved to the bed, where they kept on kissing in each other's arms. It felt natural, kissing. Jack had never kissed anyone before – not like that, anyways. But the tenderness of Hiccup's lips made it impossible to stop kissing them – and Jack wasn't planning to.

* * *

"What were you doing last night?"

"Astrid! I, uh – I was – I fell asleep shortly after replying to your text," Hiccup answered, smiling on the inside as he remembered the Frost Teen kneeling on top of him.

"You _sure_ seem tired!" she laughed, as she softly punched Hiccup's shoulder. "_That's_ for not replying."

"Ouch!"

Hiccup found it extremely weird to look at Astrid, now. She had been for so long his (everyone's, really) crush. How often hadn't he fantasized with doing with her what he had done with Jack the other night? How funny the way things changed overnight.

"So, uh – Why were you texting me last night?"

"I wanted to invite you to a small dinner party tomorrow night. It's gonna be a surprise for Snotlout – strange, I know – but I wanted you to come!" Astrid smiled. "You can bring whomever you want, it's gonna be at my place."

"Thank you, Astrid! I'll sure be there!"

The blonde smiled nodding, then went back to her stretching.

It was another cold day of training, but Hiccup's spirits seemed to be charged by what happened with Jack the night before. He was anxious to finish and go back to holding the legendary creature in his arms once more. There was something in Jack's way of hugging that seemed to make him almost… warm.

Hiccup put his helmet on, and walked out to the field. It was snowing feebly; the green surface covered in isolated patches of snow. And Hiccup smiled to himself, knowing the adorable being behind it all.

Training that day was supposed to be hard, for Hiccup hadn't seen his father that morning. And usually, when his father woke very early, it was to set up a killer workout for the teens.

Gobber slowly appeared from the locker rooms, and walked up to Hiccup. "Hiccup, where's your father?"

"Wh – What? He's not here?" Hiccup felt his heart racing with anguish.

"No, I thought he was coming with you," Gobber's worrying tone (compared to his usual cool-and-collected self) didn't help much.

"No, he – He wasn't home when I woke up, he –" Hiccup suddenly remembered, and felt his legs tremble. "Gobber, he went outside last night, and I don't remember him coming home!"

Gobber's face became tenser. "Where did he go?"

"I don't know – We were arguing and he went to the car – then he was gone."

"Hiccup, he could be out there!" Gobber let out with concern in his voice. "Come on, we're taking my car – We have to look for him – Have you tried his cellphone?"

Hiccup took out his phone and dialed his father's number. After a couple of beeps, the recorder came in.

"It's off or I can't reach him," Hiccup said, feeling angst slowly building inside.

"What's going on, Hiccup? Are we training, or –"

"We can't find my dad, Astrid," Hiccup said, walking behind Gobber to the parking lot.

"What? And are you going to look for him right now, or –"

"Yes."

"Good. I'm coming with you."

The trio walked into Gobber's car (a very well kept '85 relic). The engine was soon roaring, and Gobber hit the pedal. Hiccup had no idea where they were going to start looking, but he knew he wasn't going to stop until he found his father.

The brunette took out his phone again and dialed a number. He not only needed his help, but didn't want to go through this alone.

* * *

_Shit! It's vibrating! What did Hic say?_

Jack stared motionless at the slim rectangular thing vibrating in his hand.

He remembered Hiccup saying, "…touch the green…" so he did just that. He pressed the thing against his ear, and softly said, "Hello?"

"Jack, it's me! Listen, my father's gone missing, he didn't return home last night, and he wasn't training just now. I – I need you to help me look for him."

"Don't worry, Hic, we'll find your dad, just – Just don't panic, okay, sweetheart? I'll do my best to find him."

"I know you will. We'll start looking near Berk, then return home, okay? I'll wait for you there."

"Okay," Jack put the phone back in his hoodie pocket, held his staff, and immediately took off. He wasn't going to let Hiccup suffer for long. He was going to find his father.

* * *

Stoic felt every bone in his body aching. _I crashed. _He lifted his head up the stirring wheel and looked around. It was dark; he was in the woods. The car had apparently crashed against a tree. A few yards from his car was a huge truck turned upside down. _What the hell happened?_

Stoic suddenly remembered the strange circumstances of his accident. He was driving down St. Croix Trail, the truck behind him, when suddenly a horse ran in front of his car. Stoic turned hastily to the right, but his windows suddenly fogged up. Not being able to know where he was heading, he instinctively hit the brakes. Apparently, the truck behind him must've lost control and turned too violently.

With abnormal strength, Stoic kicked the door open, and moved out of the car. The air smelled of tires and brakes, but he quickly caught the smell of something else, something much worrying: smoke. Stoic decided to check on the truck's driver.

Walking with some difficulty, he neared the truck's cabin, and saw the driver grunting in what was probably pain.

"Sir, don't worry, I'll help you get out!"

Stoic opened the door of the truck's cabin and saw the driver hanging upside down. Unlocking the seatbelt, he held the driver and made him fall slowly on the ground. He then dragged the driver as far as he could from the truck.

"Are you okay, sir?"

"The – The truck could blow up any minute," the driver replied, with a bewildered look on his face.

"I know, let's move out so we –"

But it was later than they thought, because in that moment the truck exploded in a blast of fumes and flames. Stoic was expelled backwards, hitting his head with a tree bark, but the driver wasn't so lucky. He was caught by the flames and was curling in excruciating pain, screaming. Stoic tried getting up, but he was so weak he started fainting. The last things he saw was the driver as he stopped moving, and a small redheaded figure in green move toward him.

* * *

_St. Paul must be close._

Patrick mac T-áhd walked slowly through the road, as the fire consumed everything it reached. He hadn't arrived for long when disaster was already unfolding, thanks to his newly formed powers. What he learned, though, was that he could actually _control_ the unlucky situations Patrick brought with him.

A scared horse here, some temperature changes, and a little oil on the road, creating a disastrous car crash was by far easier than he thought it'd be. But he hadn't produced the calamity he had planned, for one of the drivers was still alive.

A huge man, with a powerful build, was sitting next to a tree. He had apparently collapsed after the explosion, but he was surely breathing. Patrick could cause spit to block his breathing, or his heart to have a sudden crash, but decided against it.

After all, he was going to need all his power for Jack Frost.


	5. CHAPTER 4

**Hello, guys! I'm back! i want to apologise for the loooong gap between ch. 3 and 4! I resumed term a couple of weeks ago, and I have been bombarded with work all along! **

**I really had fun writing this, mainly because it is the pavement on which the events of the next chapter will be based on! Also, of course, because of all these HiJack feels!**

**I want to thank all the 36 people that have followed this story, the 22 awesome reviews I've received, and of course your 18 ****favourites! I love you guys, you're the reason why I keep writing this! Keep up the love, and don't forget to spread the word!**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER 4

The sun was setting in a beautiful display of reds and yellows with some blues in between. The evening was getting colder; the windows were starting to get covered in fog. Everything would have been so beautiful if his father wasn't missing. Now Hiccup felt a lump in his throat, and emptiness in his stomach. A loud roar confirmed his estimated ten hours of no food.

Toothless sat next to his master, looking at him with what looked like sadness in its eyes. When Hiccup turned to look at his gammy cat, it immediately moved closer and purred his joint sorrow to him.

"Thanks, buddy." Hiccup caressed his cat's back. Something about Toothless's expressions and eye contact made him think there was much more than met the eye with this cat. It was almost as if he _understood_ what was going on around him. That's why Hiccup never talked of Toothless as a mere pet, but as a real friend.

Vigorous tapping on the window made Hiccup jump to his feet, his senses woken alert. It wasn't until he saw the familiar slender figure of Jack that he relaxed. He moved to open the window, clamping his teeth due to the extreme cold that rushed in the room as he did so.

The Frost Teen entered panting to the bedroom. He looked bewildered and relieved at the same time, trying to both catch his breath and tell Hiccup something.

"What did you –"

"Hiccup – he's – your father is –" The sound of the doorbell cut him off. As Hiccup instinctively looked at his bedroom door, Jack finished, "here."

Hiccup ran down the stairs, almost falling face-first twice, and rapidly opened the front door. And with a sigh of deep relief, he tackled the strong and tall figure of his father. When they broke apart, Hiccup noticed several deep gashes on his father's face and hands, as well as countless rips and mud spots all over his clothing.

Helping his father inside, Hiccup asked the one question that had been bugging him for more than a day, "What happened?"

"To be honest, Hiccup, I don't know."

His father's tone was serious and… scared. Nothing could frighten Hiccup so much than to hear fear in his brave and strongly built father. But the liberation that his father was finally home made him easily forget this.

"We were all scared, we searched everywhere, you have no idea –"

"Thank you, son."

The truth in these three words brought Hiccup close to tears. Until now, he hadn't really come to grasp the amount of fear he had that he would never see his father again.

After a long tight hug, Hiccup said, "Dad – you probably haven't eaten anything – would you like –?"

"Yes," his father said, collapsing on a couch.

Hiccup smiled, joy and ease building up inside him. He ran to the kitchen and turned on the stove. But he stopped short and said out loud, "Wait, I can't really cook, what am I –?"

A single box of mac and cheese resting on the shelf cut off his excuses. With sheer determination, Hiccup jumped and seized the box, and immediately set off to preparing the contents inside.

"These are going to be the best mac and cheese dad has ever tried," he said, just before burning his pinky with the still-on stove.

* * *

After an hour of intense cooking and constant burning of the limbs, Hiccup triumphantly walked out of the kitchen with a tray containing a large bowl of creamy yellow mac and cheese and four perfectly toasted bread slices. However, his commensal was deeply asleep, snoring so loudly even Toothless had come down to stare at the noisy being.

"Dad," Hiccup whispered, "dad, wake up." More intense snoring answered back. "Dad… food is ready."

With a loud thump on his head's behalf, Stoic woke up, looking as bewildered as before.

"Easy, dad, I've brought food."

"What – food – oh, thank you, Hiccup, I –"

Lustfully looking at the contents of the tray, Stoic straightened his self and rubbed his hands together, welcoming the well-deserved food.

After a couple of minutes of fork maneuvers and loud slurps, a jaunty sigh informed Hiccup that his father's meal was finally over. He waited until his father finished wiping his thick moustache and beard clean before asking again.

"So what exactly happened, dad?"

"I crashed," Stoic answered, his look of bewilderment back on his face. "I crashed in the weirdest circumstances imaginable. Everything was so weird, neither ambulance nor police car arrived at the scene. I wouldn't be surprised if the truck was still at –"

"_TRUCK?_"

"Yes, truck," Stoic then recalled the events of the night before. "After the explosion, the last thing I remember was a red… figure. Sort of like a troll. After that, I woke up, with the car rendered useless, and… walked home."

"Dad, why didn't you call –?"

"The lines were off," Stoic said. "And shortly after the accident, my phone ran out of battery."

"Dad, all this sounds –"

"Very unlucky," Stoic finished, looking puzzled at the floor. "I know."

After a moment of silence, Hiccup said, "We need to get you to a hospital, dad, this can't –"

"Nonsense," Stoic waved away the thought. "No Haddock has had to be taken to the hospital before. Besides, I'm a Viking! Do you think I won 12 Super Bowls by being handed out to a clinic every time I broke a bone?"

Knowing it would be futile to argue against "the Vast," Hiccup finished with, "Then you at least get some sleep. Tomorrow we'll take care of the cuts on your –"

Before Hiccup could finish, Stoic was already halfway up the stairs, mumbling, "Nonsense" as he walked.

Hiccup looked up, muttered a single "Thank you," and ran to his bedroom, with the black cat following closely behind. What he found on his bed made his knees weaken with adorableness.

Jack was snoring loudly, lying on his belly, with his mouth open, almost drooling all over Hiccup's pillow. Hiccup smiled at the sight, looking at his cat, which returned what looked like a mischievous grin. He then looked for a sheet and placed it softly over Jack's body.

The white-haired youth woke immediately up, sitting straight up on the bed, trying to pretend nothing had happened. Hiccup chuckled.

"So, umm – did your father –?"

"Yes," Hiccup said, smiling. "He's back and safe, now."

"And umm – what happened?" Jack asked as he let out a huge yawn.

"A very odd car accident," Hiccup answered.

"But he's –?"

"He's fine, Jack," Hiccup said, smiling even more.

With sleepy eyes, Jack smiled too, and obviously having a hard time keeping them open, he said, "I'm glad he's okay."

"You can go back to sleep now, if you want."

"Only if –" Jack suddenly blushed softly. "Never mind, I'll go back to –"

"Only if what, Jack?"

Jack suddenly smiled, that mischievous smile that he so typically showed off. "Would you come snuggle with me?"

Hiccup felt his heart race madly. "Uh – I, uh – sure!"

Jack held Hiccup's hand and pulled him into bed. He felt cold, but Hiccup felt his hand give away some of its warmth, warming Jack's hand. Getting under the sheets of his bed, Hiccup held the much older teen in his arms, his feet intertwining with Jack's.

Hiccup kissed Jack's neck softly, feeling the other's heart pound loudly. Jack turned around and kissed Hiccup's lips in one swift motion. "I don't want to leave."

"I don't want _you_ to leave."

"I could remain in your arms, Hiccup. I could hug you for centuries. I know I could. I've lived for ages alone, and now I – now I have someone," Jack paused, kissing Hiccup's nose. "Now I have you, and I know all I need is you. I know that now. I could spend eternity with you, Hic, I –"

"I don't have eternity, Jack."

Jack's eyes glistened under the soft light of the room. He shut them closed. "Don't – don't go there yet – please, don't, it'd just – I want to stay like this with you as long as life –" Jack's voice broke, and held Hiccup in a tighter embrace.

Hiccup found his eyes stinging as well. He softly whispered into the other's ear, "I don't want to let go either, Jack."

Both teens remained into each other's arms for far longer than they could remember, feeling each other doze off. Hiccup's heart jumped inside his chest, whether from joy or nerves, he couldn't tell. All he could confirm was that he was in another boy's arms, so close he could smell the other boy's hair, and yet he found nothing wrong with that. In fact, Hiccup hadn't realized until then how much he had longed for this moment; how much he had dreamt with a faceless someone in his arms, making each other company. He fell asleep with the image of Jack being _that_ significant other who would make him feel… loved.

* * *

"_In other news, multiple sightings of what seems to be an early Saint Patrick's Day prank have appeared across all St. Paul! What do you have for us, Darla?"_

_"Well, Erick, this surely _is_ something unexpected! We are here now with Mr. Claude who affirms he saw –_"

"Let's do something fun today!"

Jack had stepped in front of the TV, sporting a whimsical smile on his face. He looked more like a desperate child than a Guardian, Hiccup thought. He moved his bowl of cereal and rested his elbows on the table as he chuckled.

"Although I'm sure it'd be fun, Jack, we can't. We _have_ to investigate what's going on – I have a very odd feeling of all this, I don't –"

"_All this _meaning?"

"I mean my dad's accident, and the fact there's that weird prank thing going on. All this feels just a little bit odd, don't you think?"

Jack sat next to Hiccup, losing the smile he had a couple of seconds ago. Nodding, he declared, "I have to admit, Hic… from what your father said about the crash – it all seems very unfortunate. I mean, _too_ unfortunate. It's almost like he got seven years of bad luck or something…"

"Yes, this all just –" Hiccup stopped. "Wait, can that happen? I mean, can someone have _bad_ luck?"

"Well, bad luck is basically the absence of good luck, I think… I don't know, Hic… I'm not North –"

"Santa."

"— or any other Guardian. I don't know everything, kid!"

"Ask them, then!"

"Nah, they're all busy, I'm sure. It'd just bother them."

"Well, you surely know more about this than me. What about paying the crash site a visit? Maybe we can find something or –"

"_YES!_" Jack let out, almost jumping of excitement. "But there's one condition."

"What?"

"That we _have_ to get there flying."

Hiccup laughed nervously. "I better take the bike, you know – safer, and –"

"Nonsense. Let's go."

Jack put his hoodie on, held his staff firmly, and walked out of the kitchen. Hiccup heard the front door open. "Aw, the gods must hate me."

* * *

Jack was enjoying himself, but most importantly Hiccup. The moment they had taken off, Hiccup grasped strongly Jack's hoodie and hadn't let go since. Jack started laughing now, with Hiccup pushing his face into his neck.

"_WOOHOO!_"

"Jack – put me down – what the heck – please I'm not even –!"

"Relax, kid! We're almost there!"

"How far – so going to kill you –!"

After a couple of minutes they arrived at the very place the crash had happened. To their surprise, Stoic's car and the truck were still there. Everything was intact, even the…

"Oh, god!"

A man (or what was left of him) was lying on the floor, partially incinerated. Jack's stomach turned; if he had eaten anything that morning, he would have thrown it up. In a respectful manner, Jack used his staff to cover the man in a very thick layer of snow, and froze everything over.

"I can't believe no one has come to the scene."

They walked around both vehicles, inspecting anything that could reveal a clue to the strange events' cause. After browsing around, Jack saw very small footprints walking away from the big truck. They seemed to be the footprints of small shoes; small, but rather long.

"Jack, what's this?"

Jack turned around and saw Hiccup at the middle of the road, some feet away from the vehicles. He was keeling, intently looking at something.

"What?"

Suddenly, Jack saw it. Black sand, thick as a rock but light as feather, covered the pavement crevices in random patterns. Jack had seen this before. It was linked to a monstrous being who once tried to destroy the Guardians. The mere memory made him shiver. But this one was slightly different. It had something else in it too. It had…

"Clovers."

"Come again?"

"Clovers, Hic," Jack gestured to the small plants that accompanied the sand in most places. "Four-leaf clovers, to be precise."

"Aren´t these supposed to be lucky or something? Like people –"

Suddenly, something clicked inside Jack's mind, making his legs quiver at the newfound fact.

"We need the Guardians, Hic," Jack said, worry showing in his voice. "We need them _now_."

"What – why? What's wrong?"

"Something just doesn't feel right."

* * *

"This is very strange, Jack."

Hiccup couldn't believe his eyes. Before him were the legendary beings he grew up with. Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy, the Easter Bunny, and the Sandman. The big four united in a single solitary road outlying St. Paul. And boy, they looked worried.

"Are we sure these aren't lying here by coincidence, mate?" said the Bunny, with a thick Australian accent.

"Very sure."

"Oh, gee! This is terrible, terrible!" said the Fairy, flapping her wings at such speed they appeared as nothing but blurs around her body. "What has he done to the poor leprechaun?"

"Whatever it is, cannot be good," Santa rubbed his chin. Hiccup was surprised to see his tattooed arms, but not as much as when he heard the strong Russian accent.

Sandman put a puzzled face, and a single golden chain formed out of sand above his head.

"You're right, Sandy. Maybe leprechaun was kidnapped."

"This stinks, North," Bunny said, pacing nervously around the sand. "This bingle, the leprechaun, it all looks very shonky."

"I agree, Bunny," Santa declared. He now turned to Hiccup (much to his surprise) and asked, "Have you seen anything strange? Any of your friends have nightmares?"

"No, not that they've mentioned it," Hiccup said, trying very hard to help. "All there is is this and – no, wait – Jack, today's morning news!"

Jack looked puzzled, but he soon opened his eyes very big. "The early Saint Patrick's Day prank!"

"Yes, exactly!"

"What prank is this?" asked the fairy.

"Well, apparently," Hiccup started, "there have been sightings of a small leprechaun wandering around St. Paul –"

"When did prank start?"

"Uh – I never heard of it until this morning."

"And you say this gutser came yesterday?"

"What do you –?"

"I mean if this accident happened yesterday!"

"Oh, yeah! Yes, yes, yesterday. At night, apparently."

Silence fell as everyone digested the newly acquired information. Sandman had symbols and figures rapidly morph over his head. Finally, Jack spoke.

"Look, guys, if the leprechaun is out there, and there are all these strange accidents happening, it can't mean he's into something good, right?"

"That's most worrying part, Jack. If Patrick not into something good, then luck is over."

"What do you mean?" asked Hiccup.

"He means there will be no more lucky situations or fortunate events around St. Paul," answered the Tooth Fairy. "It means there's only –"

"Bad luck, mate," Bunny finished.

A clover materialized over the Sandman's head and suddenly was caught in flames.

"So what can we do?" Jack stood very rigid now.

"Keep eye on children. Keep eye on the leprechaun."

"I bloody knew that fruit loop bogeyman was after something!"

"Wait, so are we sure Pitch is behind all this?"

The four Guardians looked at each other, before the Tooth Fairy said, "Yes."

"Udachi," Santa solemnly declared.

* * *

"Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"The Easter Bunny –"

"Just call him Bunny."

"—mentioned something about a bogeyman. Is it – true?"

"What, the bogeyman? He's _very_ real, Hic. And he's _really_ dangerous."

"And the leprechaun?"

"He was one of us… Hope he still is."

Darkness had fallen once again over Berk. The first few starts were already showing up, and the sun slowly hid under the west mountains. The moon wouldn't take so long to appear.

Hiccup took out his key and opened the front door of his house. The scents of supper immediately filled his nostrils. He could hear chatter in the kitchen.

"Come in, Ja—"

"Who the hell is _he_, Hiccup?"

Both teens jumped and turned around. Gobber was coming out of the bathroom, with a magazine on his only hand and a roll of toilet paper in his prosthesis.

"Gobber! God, you scared me! He's – uh – he's Jack."

Gobber stretched a busy hand to Jack. "Only _Jack_?"

"Jackson Overland Frost," Jack said proudly, shaking the other's hand. "Pleasure."

"Same to ya," Gobber looked at Jack very suspiciously for a moment, but then shrugged. "Come in, kids, supper's ready."

"Wait, Gobber, who is in there with dad?"

"Aw, it's just some neighbor. Apparently, his dog has been missing for the whole day, now. He's asking your father if he can put fliers around Berk."

Hiccup shared a worried look with Jack. _It has begun._

* * *

That night's supper was incredibly awkward. Neither Stoic nor Gobber could take the eyes off the strange looking white-haired slender tall teen boy who was having onion soup with them. Jack seemed oblivious to the fact, which made Hiccup relax and enjoy the scene.

When they were finished, both kids excused themselves and parted to Hiccup's room. But before Hiccup could leave the kitchen, Stoic stood up.

"Uh – can I have a word with you, son?"

Hiccup, feeling very nervous all of the sudden, walked with his dad to the cupboard.

"Hiccup, where did you meet this boy?"

"Uh – we, umm – we met at school."

"School? I had never seen him before."

"Yeah, he's a transfer student."

"Where from?"

"Burgess…?"

"Oh, right," Stoic seemed much worried than before. "And – um – is he… normal?"

Hiccup was taken aback. "What do you mean?"

"I mean – is he…_gay_?"

Hiccup's mind was immediately filled with the images of his first kiss with Jack, of them cuddling at night, of Jack holding his warm hand into his cold ones. Panicking over showing his blushed cheeks to his father, Hiccup quickly said, "_No_, dad, come on!" and hurriedly left.

He ran up the stairs and found Jack playing with Toothless on the floor. Moved by the scene, and probably his weariness, he joined them.

"Black cats are considered very unlucky, you know?"

"Aw, what? This cutie here _unlucky_?" Jack caressed Toothless. "Impossible."

Hiccup laughed. "I actually think this cat is the luckiest black cat on earth."

"You're gonna save the day, aren't you, buddy? Who's gonna save the day? Who's a good hero?" Jack kissed Toothless on the head and stood up.

"Jack, my father just asked me if you were gay."

Jack sat carelessly on bed, examining a black dragon-shaped dagger he got from the desktop. "And what did you tell him?"

"I told him you weren't."

"Everything's good, then," Jack didn't lift the gaze from the dagger.

"I don't want to lie to him anymore, Jack. But I'm… scared."

Jack put the dagger down on the desktop again, and took one of Hiccup's hands. Without much effort, the taller teen lifted up the shorter brunette. Jack then held Hiccup in a tight embrace, and kissed his forehead.

"You don't have to tell him anything now, Hiccup," he said, looking deeply into Hiccup's eyes. Hiccup felt his breath short and his heart race. "I can wait."

"Thank you," Hiccup muttered, kissing Jack on the lips.

Kissing Jack was always such an electrifying experience. First, your lips froze all over. But as his chill tongue explored your mouth, his lips became warm with yours. An exquisite combination of hot and cold made the moment twice as exciting as it would normally be. Hiccup never wanted to let him go after each kiss.

When they finally did, Jack whispered, "I'm not letting anything happen to you."

Hiccup smiled. "And what makes you think I _need_ protection?"

Jack chuckled. "I love how brave you are, kiddo."

"I love how _foolish_ you can be, Jack."

Both teens laughed. Hiccup felt terribly nervous, as if something bad was just about to happen. And he knew deep down, Jack was worried too. But decided to ignore this fact, and chose to feel safe instead; safe in the much older teen's arms, safe knowing Jack hadn't lied: he _was_ going to keep him safe. And he'd _die_ to keep the other kid safe too.

Jack moved apart and sat on the bed again, motioning Hiccup to join him. When he sat down, Jack reclined his head on Hiccup's shoulder. Hiccup jumped a little when a cold hand held his.

"I don't want to leave this, you know."

"This what?" asked Hiccup.

"_This._"

"You just gestured to all of me."

"Precisely," Jack said, kissing the other kid's shoulder. Toothless, probably feeling left out, jumped up his master's lap and purred for some petting.

After obliging, Hiccup said, "I don't want you to leave either. You've… grown _into_ me.

Jack grinned. "_That _sounds dirty."

"Ugh, Jack, really?"

"What! I have urges, kid! I'm a three hundred-year old being stuck in an adolescent body!"

"Timing!"

"Whatever," Jack said, suddenly using his free hand to trace a line that went from Hiccup's chest to his belly, all the way to his knee. Hiccup shivered under the other male's touch, and held his hand.

"Jack," he lifted his hand and kissed it, "some other time, alright? Just… not _now._"

Jack giggled. "I understand, bro." But he smirked again. "_Although_ you said _nothing_ about… TICKLES!"

Jack suddenly struck Hiccup in a maniac tickle attack, making him almost yell in laughter.

"NO, _STAHP_ IT!"

Jack seemed to be having the time of his life making his younger friend collapse and curl in laughter. After what seemed hours, he finally topped Hiccup, sitting on his stomach and placing his knees on either side of Hiccup's torso. He then, to Hiccup's delight, kissed his nose.

"It's true what they say, then."

"What?" asked the Spirit of Fun.

"Jack Frost nipping at your nose."

Jack laughed. "I can nip at _other_ things…" he said just before winking in a pretentious manner.

"Oh my God, _what_ is _wrong_ with _you_ today?" Hiccup asked, pretending to be annoyed.

Both teens laughed again. Finally, Jack collapsed next to Hiccup. Both teens snuggled close before Hiccup went for a thick duvet and covered himself and Jack. The Frost Teen then held Hiccup into a tight hug and whispered, "Sweet dreams, lover boy."

"Sweet dreams, horny pants."

The white-haired teen and the brunette slowly dozed off after having their last laughter seizure of the night.

* * *

_So close._

Pitch Black sat on a throne, at the center of his cave, stroking one of his newly created nightmares.

"We are very close to the end of those clowns, aren't we?"

The nightmare simply snuffled.

"Soon we will be in control of the world, darling. The glory and praise that were once mine will be recovered, and the world will know the real meaning of fear."

He stood up, and went to the bronze globe that rotated at the center of the hall.

"Oh, the mental tortures they'll inflict on themselves. Oh, the agony. And you know what's the best, my dear?"

The nightmarish horse walked next to him.

"That they won't have the pleasure of _waking up_."


	6. CHAPTER 5

**Hello, HiJackers! First of all, I wan't to apologise for being a lazy and busy mo-fo and not updating as frequently as I used to. I'm so overloaded with homework I barely have time to sleep anymore! So, today I took a day off from all the homework, and decided to write this for you guys instead. That's how much I love you, guys! I don't care getting an F tomorrow! YOLO! (I'm kidding about the YOLO, by the way...).**

**Secondly, I want to thank my all my 51 followers for you encouraging feedback and your positive vibe. It is because of you, guys, HiJackers, that I keep doing this!**

**This chapter was hard to write, because I had so many things planned for it. It's a pivotal chapter, full of angst and shit. I wrote it like three times because I couldn't find a prefect ending. I (like many other people) like to say I never ****_finish _****anything; I just run out of time. **

**So I hope you guys enjoy, and remember that your critique is EXTREMELY helpful! So help me write better stories for you, guys, by reviewing and commenting the flaws, the ups and downs, the successes of my chapters!**

**I love you guys! 3**

* * *

CHAPTER 5

"Really? Already?"

"Oh, come on, Hic –"

"Jack, it's only been two days. _Two! _And you already broke it."

"Hic, I _fly, _ok? It was _bound_ to happen! When you're up there, the least thing you think of is –"

"– my phone, Jack! I had just downloaded –"

"Downloaded?"

"– tons of songs in that! It's amazing how –"

"Wait, so you have music here?"

Jack produced the phone from the pocket in his hoodie. Hiccup stood there, frozen in what seemed to be relief. After a few seconds just staring at the phone, he smiled and snatched the phone from the Fun Sprite's hand.

"You _damn_ prankster!"

Jack burst in maniac laughter, clenching his stomach as he did so. Hiccup joined him, punching him in the arm playfully. _Aw, he's so adorable when he's angry. _Jack managed to hold him close, and daubed a kiss on the other boy's forehead.

"So… You mentioned something about music?"

"Yeah, it's here, you just have to –" Hiccup stopped short. "Wait, what kind of music do _you_ like, Jack?"

"Me? I – uh – I…" Jack smiled. "I really don't know, Hic. But I do know I _love_ music. In coffee shops, outside cars, houses… But I don't know what they're called, or why," Jack chuckled. "Why don't _you_ show me your favorite music?"

"Okay, sure! Come," Hiccup gestured to a nearby bench.

Jack had been flying all morning that day, covering houses and people with beautiful, fresh, clean snow. It should've been an amazing day, if he hadn't had a bugging feeling in his chest. He was feeling… anxious, almost scared. The odd events that were happening recently had him edgy. But it wasn't what was happening that had him all nervous.

No.

It was around _whom_ they were happening that _really_ scared him.

Not long ago, he had encountered his newfound treasure. Jack Frost, the entity that had spent three hundred years in eternal solitude, had just felt _real_ but a year ago. But it wasn't until he found this kid, sketching dragons at a park, that he finally felt _alive._

Jack was having feelings for Hiccup he hadn't felt in centuries. And this all made it all the more terrifying to lose him.

"Okay, how 'bout this one," Hiccup asked, while placing the phone up high between their heads. Slow, tender music started flying in the air. The sweet notes succeeded to make Jack feel relaxed again.

"Gosh, I love this one," Jack moaned. "What's it called?"

"It's called 'Kissing Song,' by Dawn Landes. Pretty cool, huh?"

"_'Kissing_ Song,' huh?" Jack smirked, getting closer to Hiccup's ear. "So why aren't we _kissing_?"

Jack chuckled softly as he saw the red go up Hiccup's face, as he turned around to face him. He was smiling, that stupid little grin that Jack started to love. Jack moved in first, kissing the other boy's nose. He then moved down to his lips, moving his body closer to the kid. Jack's hands went to Hiccup's thigh, caressing the fabric-covered skin. He felt Hiccup tense and loosen quickly, as Jack's hand moved upwards to his crotch.

In a teasing move, he barely ran his fingers over the fabric, and moved upwards to his abdomen. But as soon as the cold hand brushed over the other male's skin, Hiccup clenched and tensed every muscle. Hiccup's face crushed against Jack's own, sending the Frost Teen backwards on the bench in one painful movement.

"Oh, boy! Jack, I'm sorry, are you okay?"

"Yeah – yeah, I'm fine," Jack lied, as he felt the blood pump hard on his nose. "Aggressive – I like that."

Hiccup laughed nervously, blushing manically. "I'm sorry. I'm such a fail at this kind of things." He moved to caress the white-haired boy's face, as he smiled awkwardly.

"I've noticed," Jack said with a wink. Jack brushed dry his watery eyes, and smiled too. "It's a good thing you're cute, kid."

Jack's insides melted over as Hiccup blushed in shyness and frantically moved his gaze on everything but Jack's eyes. _My goodness, this kid will be the death of me._

Hiccup moved his eyes up to Jack's. "You're cute too."

Jack smiled like an idiot._ Yeap. Death by cuteness._

* * *

"I'm home, dad!"

Hiccup left his backpack at the bottom of the stairs, reading the last one of his mails. Toothless appeared from a corner, and jumped to the brunette.

"Hey, bud! How's it going? Where's dad, huh? Where's he?" Hiccup stroked the cat's ears, and it responded with a slow purr.

"Dad, I'm _home!_"

Nothing.

"Oh, not again."

"Hiccup, I'm in the attic! I need a hand"

Hiccup jumped startled. "'k, dad! I'm coming!"

He had always loved the attic. When his mother died, he had spent a whole week in there, all by himself. That place had become a sanctuary for him. An isolated part of the house, separated from the outside world – from everything, really – where he could think, cool down, or brave up.

"Dad?"

"Hiccup, catch this."

A long wooden box fell from the square opening in the ceiling. Hiccup barely caught it, sneezing violently with the dust. "What's – _ah-choo! _– this?"

"This," Stoic started, jumping from the ladder, "is something I've been saving for such times like these."

"Times like –?"

"It's my father's father's rifle." Hiccup's heart pumped faster. "Used to hunt back then, all over Norway, and used to protect us today."

"Protect us? Dad, from what?"

* * *

"_Hundreds of deadly accidents have been reported all over Minnesota, with their 'epicenter' in Saint Paul. These accidents go from small car crashes to entire buildings burnt to ashes. What have you got for us, Richard?"_

_"Well, Claudia, I'm here with random events expert Charles Hubert, who seems to have a rather interesting the– oh, God, the camera – Bob, what the…? Bob?" _the camera had fallen to the ground, shooting the floor of a coffee shop through a broken lens. "_BOB! Someone call the paramedics! Bob, you're choking! What the –?"_

_"We seem to have technical difficulties. Will come right back after these commercials."_

Hiccup's legs were trembling. _What's going on? _A flash of the conversation he had had a couple of days ago occupied his mind.

_"He means there will be no more lucky situations or fortunate events around St. Paul," _had said the Tooth Fairy_. "It means there's only –"_

_"Bad luck, mate," _Bunny had finished_._

"Bad luck," repeated Hiccup softly.

"I don't know what this is, Stoic, but whatever it is," Gobber took another big gulp of his beer, "it's scaring the shit out of me."

"I know. It's setting me off too."

"But why the gun, dad? I mean, these are all unfortunate events, not –"

"There's an old Norse myth," started Gobber, "that when the Landvættir, the land wights or fortune sprites, where gone, it meant an enemy had rooted a nithing pole cursing the town with bad luck. Now, this enemy was usually a wizard or a monster. And only if they were killed, the curse would be lifted. If he wasn't –"

"If he wasn't, the Four Protectors – the griffin, the bull, the dragon, and the giant – would come and level everything to the ground in order to override the curse. It worked just like a –"

"– like a nuke."

"Yes," Stoic declared solemnly, taking another sip of his beer. "Now, I'm not usually superstitious. You know I'm not, Hiccup. But all these things are happening – I was indeed in one of them, and I _saw_ a small ill-looking figure. And I can't help but…believe," he finished, holding his gun tighter.

Hiccup swallowed hard. They were right – there _was_ a Fortune Sprite that had gone rogue. _He's getting closer. I've got to warn Jack and the Guardians._

"Dad, this – this _nithing _pole… What does it look like?"

"Oh, it's the most grotesque thing you'll ever see. It's a horse's severed head… impaled."

Hiccup's stomach twisted in a knot.

* * *

"Come on, Jack, pick up, pick up."

"_Sorry._ _The mobile phone at this number is unavailable. Please try again later._"

"Damn it!" Hiccup dialed the number again. He _had_ to reach Jack as soon as possible. He knew a moment like this could happen, which is why he gave him the phone.

"_Sorry. The mobile phone at this number is unavailable. Please try again later._"

"Fuck it" Hiccup put on his jacket, his gloves, and his knitted hat. He was halfway through the door, when Toothless meowed.

"You can't come, bud, it's too dangerous." But Toothless gaze showed a determination that seemed unnatural in a domestic animal. "Alright, come on."

Both teen and cat strode the street. The night was cold, the air solidifying in the lungs. Hiccup's hands were sweating, his stomach still felt in a knot, but his determination to find Jack Frost could never waver.

* * *

"Damn it, Hiccup's gonna kill me this time."

Jack stared at the phone in pieces lying on the street. He had been flying on his way home – Hiccup's home, that is – when a bird had suddenly flown into his face. When he regained control, he saw the phone as it crashed on the pavement below.

Jack panicked a little; he started catching glances and looks all over the street. _Maybe someone can fix it?_ He picked up the pieces and put them inside his hoodie.

He approached a group of teenagers smoking cigarettes near a light pole. "Uh, excuse me guys, can any of you help me? I dropped my phone, and it – well, it's like this," he said, taking out the pieces.

The teenagers laughed hysterically. One of them said, "Yeah, dude, try turning it off and on!" That made them laugh even more.

Jack turned around, feeling anger build up inside him. "They become so unpleasant when they grow older," he muttered as he left.

"What was that?"

Jack felt his entire body lose balance as he was pushed hard by one of the teens. His staff fell to the ground, and he felt he was about to as well.

"I think we should teach this fag a lesson, eh, guys?" The other boys sneered and nodded. As they approached, Jack felt his hands twist in angry fists.

"You wanna fight?"

One of the guys laughed and threw a punch to Jack's face. He had failed to duck and now his left cheekbone zone was bleeding. He knew it was going to heal, but…

"I guess you do."

As the boy prepared to punch Jack again, he swiftly punched three times the kid's chest and stomach. The guy's knees weakened, making him fall to the ground. One of his peers tried to help, but Jack air-kicked him, shoving him backwards.

Jack quickly assumed a fight pose, now with his staff in his hands. "Who wants more?"

But as he prepared to deliver some blows, a loud explosion behind him made Jack lose his balance. As he turned, people started running away from a car in flames. Two men were blazing in fire.

Jack ran to the car, and immediately felt weakened by the heat. Aiming his staff at the burning men, he put the fire off with a small blizzard, and tried putting the fire on the car off as well. But as he was aiming the staff to the car, he was thrown off balance by a powerful blow to the back of his skull.

He fell face-first on the ground. As he turned, a kick on the face was waiting for him. The fire nearby was starting to charge its toll.

Jack Frost suddenly blacked out.

* * *

Hiccup ran as fast as he could, Toothless following behind.

His whole body was trembling when he got there. He had heard an explosion, and ran towards the epicenter. Now, there were tons of people staring at the flaming vehicle, as it was being consumed into ashes.

He moved closer for a better look, moving trough the crowd.

Then he saw him.

Toothless was there first. It bit and scratched ankles and toes. Hiccup joined him, punching a kid on the face, and another on his stomach. He felt a blow on the ribs, and responded with one to the throat. No one was going to hurt Jack.

He fended his friend for what seemed ages. He didn't feel the blows, but punched like he had never before. Toothless was brave as well, tearing pants, shoes, and faces. After a couple of minutes, the teenagers were far away, running from Hiccup and Toothless.

"And don't come back, you idiots!" Hiccup yelled. Toothless backed him up, hissing as the kids got lost around a corner.

Hiccup kneeled next to Jack, holding his head on his legs. "Jack – Jack, wake up – please, wake up," tears were swelling in his eyes. "A doctor – we need a doctor."

Hiccup took out his phone, and was starting to dial 911 when a cold hand held his. "You know, I broke yours."

In tears, Hiccup smiled. "Enough with the pranks." A huge load was taken off Hiccup's back. He breathed again. Toothless licked Jack's face.

"I'm serious, Hic," he said, as he took pout from his hoodie pocket a bunch of metal plates and broken glass.

"It's okay, love," Hiccup said, kissing Jack's forehead. "Can you stand up? We need to go to the doctor –"

The sound of sirens cut Hiccup off, as two fire engines parked nearby. Two firemen jumped off the trucks and started watering the burning car, drenching everyone in their path.

A fireman helped Hiccup lift Jack off the floor, and together carried him to the back of a recently parked ambulance. Jack's wounds had surprisingly healed completely, yet he still seemed feeble.

Jack turned to face Hiccup, and smiled faintly at him. "You found me."

"I did, Jack," Hiccup pressed his forehead on Jack's. "I will always do."

"Thank you," Jack mumbled, kissing Hiccup's nose.

"Time to go home," Hiccup said, holding Jack's hand.

"Only if there's sexy time tonight," Jack joked, pinching Hiccup's butt as he hopped off the ambulance.

Hiccup jumped, laughing. "You're feeling better, huh?"

* * *

"This just confirms it, then."

"It does."

"Don't be scared."

"I'm not," Hiccup said. "I am not, Jack."

Both teens stared at each other, taking a small break. It had been a long way home, and now they were a few blocks from Hiccup's house. The night felt colder, but snow had ceased falling. Hiccup saw something in Jack's eyes he hadn't seen before; it was trepidation.

"Wanna take a break?"

"Yes, please!" Jack replied.

In each other's arms, both teens and the cat walked to a bench on the sidewalk surrounding a small park. The swings were empty, but the wind made them slowly move.

"We have to warn the Guardians, Jack."

"Yes," he said, "but I have no strength right now to summon them. I'm still… weak."

Hiccup caressed Jack's cheeks. It pained him looking him like this; all battered up. He kissed the Frost Spirit full on the mouth, taking his unruly locks in his hands.

Then Toothless started to hiss. A low ruffling sound came from the bushes. Hiccup broke off from Jack, both alert and ready.

A small creature appeared from the bushes. It was wearing black tatters. Hiccup suddenly realized it was human-like.

The creature moved slowly, apparently smiling, showing dirty teeth. It had long claws, and was twisting between his fingers a dark green dagger. It had red hair, and a funny looking hat, almost like a…

"Jack, we have to go."

"Agreed," Jack said, starting to turn around.

"Oi, not so fast there," the leprechaun said, with a thick Irish accent. "It took me some power to have you two buggers here, in this deserted park. 'Twasn't easy, but…"

"Patrick?"

"In the flesh," the leprechaun smiled. Hiccup felt a shiver run across his spine. He felt… scared. He saw Toothless run away at the corner of his eye. _What? _

"Why did you –?"

"Why did I go bad?" Patrick laughed. "Because I'm tired of you five getting all the glory and attention while we rot in –"

"We?"

"Oh, yes, Jackie," Patrick smiled wider. "Pitch's involved. He devised the – um – _master plan_.

"Master plan? What for?"

"To finish you five once and for all."

Jack laughed coldly. "What? After what happened last year, he still thinks he can beat us? He knows he's no match for –"

"You," Patrick finished. Hiccup felt his legs quiver. "He knows he can't beat you."

"Exactly," Jack's voice broke for a second. "So while I'm here, while I'm around, he can't hurt us, he can't hurt children."

"Precisely, ol' bugger," Patrick looked at his green dagger. "Precisely."

Jack laughed again, but this time is was such an empty laugh, Hiccup felt even more scared. "We're immortal, pal. That means, if you didn't know, that we don't _die._ It's a fortune we don't –"

"_Fortune_, my friend," Patrick said, "can run out."

Jack's smile disappeared. Hiccup reached for his pocketknife, but jerked his hand away. He had cut his finger. _What the hell?_

"I'm not here no negotiate or bargain, Frost," Patrick said, moving closer to Jack. The white-haired teen tightened his grasp on his staff, looking pale. "I'm not here to ask you to move aside," Patrick was just feet away from Jack. "I'm here to kill you."

Jack swallowed, looking almost angry. "The dust," Jack recalled. "You combined Pitch's nightmare powder with your –"

"– my lucky charms, yes."

"And now you cause –"

"I cause misfortune, my friend. I cause death, and misery, and you know what?" Patrick smiled wider now, walking closer. "I _love_ it!"

Jack quickly held Hiccup by the hand and kicked the ground to soar into the air. But he had kicked a muddy patch, in which his foot sunk a feet deep.

Patrick powerfully kicked Jack's trapped leg, and the wet crack of a broken limb filled the night. Jack screamed.

Hiccup ran towards the leprechaun, but a sprouting root on the floor caught his foot. He fell face first into a pool of snow, and felt a firm blow into his skull. He dizzied, and weakly turned over.

Patrick was approaching Jack, now. Jack held his staff firmly, tears filling his eyes, and yelled as a full-blown blizzard rushed towards the leprechaun, cutting his cheeks and nose. But somehow, Jack's staff slipped from his hands and was sent backwards. Jack looked startled at his hands, and then looked at Patrick.

His face now wore a mask of bravery. He lifted his chin up, and forced a smile on his lips. He crawled off the mud pit and crept over the snow-covered grass.

He laughed a bit, and as Patrick moved closer to him, he said, "I warn you… I'm not alone. They'll come for you –"

"And they'll perish… just… like," Patrick lifted his dagger now, and forcefully stabbed Jack in his stomach.

"NOOOOOOOOOO!"

Jack didn't scream. His eyes filled with pain as Patrick retrieved his knife, ready for the second blow. But instead, placed in right over Jack's throat.

"LEAVE HIM ALOOOONE!"

"– you," Patrick finally finished.

Patrick slowly pressed the knife into Jack's pale skin. Blood started gushing out, and Jack closed his eyes.

Toothless jumped then from a bush into Patrick's face, gnashing and carving every inch his sharp claws could reach.

"AAAAAAARGH!"

As Patrick tried to get Toothless off his face, he dropped his knife. Hiccup immediately stood up and ran towards the knife.

As Patrick seized Toothless and threw him across the park, Hiccup took the knife and punctured the leprechaun's left shoulder as hard as he could.

"AAAAAARGH MY ARM!"

Hiccup felt his hand cramp all over, and yelled in pain, as Patrick disappeared into thin air, taking the dagger with him.

He crawled towards Jack, who was lying inert on the floor.

_You can't be dead, you can't be dead!_

But he couldn't reach Jack's body, for he had lost all his strength.

Hiccup fainted, cursing himself for being so weak.


	7. CHAPTER 6

**Hello, HiJackers!**

**You've waited, you've been hoping for it, and now, here it is! The newest chapter of "Unlucky"!**

**I want to sincerely apologize for the lack of quick updates, and for the looooong weeks without one single word from me. I've been busy guys, but now I have sorted out my priorities, and the chapter is finally done!**

**I want to announce that while writing this chapter, I discovered it is heading towards a much greater end than I had previously anticipated. It will have an international scope. I'm expanding the universe of this characters just a bit more, introducing brand-new characters and giving you guys a ride you will not easily forget!**

**Don't forget to keep writing your beautiful reviews and feedback! Trust me, there's nothing that makes me happier than reading your comments and reviews!**

**And also, spread the word, guys! If you like this story, make sure you share the experience with friends!**

**So, without further ado, here it is! **

* * *

CHAPTER 6

"_DAMN_ IT!"

"Calm down, Patrick; it's just a scratch."

"BLOODY —!"

"Stay still!"

"I'll _bloody_ kill you, Nightmare _K_—OUCH!"

"There," Pitch put aside the blood-covered cloths. He moved back, gazing down at his handiwork.

Patrick had come to Pitch's cave badly injured. For a moment, Pitch felt all the excitement and longing die slowly inside. But as the Fortune Sprite mumbled, "…done," he felt every muscle, every bone, every crevice in his ash-black skin quiver with joy. He had even agreed on helping the old fool recover from his wounds. Now, Patrick mac T-áhd stood sitting, feeble, on his chair, all bandaged over.

"So," Pitch started, caressing a newly formed nightmare, "how was it? Did he… scream? Did he… _cry_?"

"No," Patrick replied, groaning. "He took it like a champ, the ol' bugger. Not one tear. Though my dagger went deep, a'right! He won't recover in any less than… a month, I reckon."

"So… he didn't fight back?"

"No, not him. His human friend and his bloody cat, on the other hand —"

"Hold on," Pitch couldn't believe what he heard. "_Human_ friend? Is he a… brunette? Small child? Heard the name… _Jamie_?"

"Not that I recall, no."

Another _human friend, Jack? Not so clever, are you?_

"Is he a threat, the child?"

"He's not precisely a _child_! O'er seventeen, I reckon. He's no harm, but… the _cat_," his voice became bitter with the last words.

Pitch chuckled. "Oh, my friend, if I'd known you were afraid of cats, I would never had —"

"Not just _any_ cat, you idiot! It was a _black_ cat!"

"A black c—?" suddenly, everything clicked in Pitch's mind. _Bad luck…_

"Yes, dammit! Black cats! Ever heard of black cats bringing seven years of _bad luck_? Well, that's because black cats were given such strong power to repel _me_! Why? I've no idea! But that's how the belief started: a black cat appeared, and my good luck and charms were no more! I had to flee; I just couldn't stand the buggers!"

"But you're not entirely the _Good Fortune_ Sprite, are y—?"

"That's wha' I thought! But given these circumstances…!"

"Yeah," Pitch finally said, after a long pause. He slowly walked behind the leprechaun, taking out a small obsidian blade from his robe. "So… you'd say the job is done?"

"Done, a'right!"

"No more complications?" he asked, moving slowly closer.

"Not that I reckon!"

"Good… good." He could now smell the fetidness of the leprechaun's hair. "In _that_ case…"

In a swift motion, Pitch went with the blade to the leprechaun's throat. But as he was just inches away, the blade somehow fell from his hand and incrusted itself on Pitch's foot. With a scream of pain, the Nightmare King fell backwards. Before he could even notice it, Patrick was already on top of Pitch, with a small knife already cutting the Boogeyman's throat.

"How _dare _you?"

"Me? Oh, no, mate. The only one to blame 'ere, is you. Did you really think_ you_ could harm me?"

"But the _cat_—"

"That's the higher leagues, mate. That's magic and Man in Moon's wishes. You, on the other hand…"

"Please, Patrick, I… You owe _me_ this grandiose power!"

"Sure I do," Patrick said, getting back on his feet. He backed away a couple of steps, and gave Pitch his back. "That's why you have five seconds to get the bloody hell outta here."

"_What?_ This is _my_ dominion, you insolent little —"

"One… Two…"

_Is he bluffing?_

Pitch suddenly noticed the leprechaun's big eyes turn a horrifying black as it turned again to face his victim to-be.

_I'm not risking it!_

Pitch quickly stood up, and started running towards the hole that was the entrance to his liar. As his nightmares promptly came rushing towards their master and lift him up to the hole, he heard mac T-áhd say, "… five."

A deafening rumble saturated the air, and a blast made every nearby tree quiver. Cracks and fissures commenced to appear all over the ground, and as Pitch soared over the scenery, he saw how everything succumbed into his monstrous hole. Every tree, every bush, every nest was sucked by the crumbling structure, until the noise was no more, and the earth remained silent.

His lair, his life's work, his _home_, was now destroyed under a depression of debris.

_You'll pay, mac T-áhd. There will be no hole, no crevice, no cave where I won't search. And I _will _find you. _

Anger made the Boogeyman shake. He opened his mouth, and a scream so deafening and so terrifying as thunder filled the air, as the Nightmare King unleashed his fury above the earth.

* * *

Hiccup's entire body ached. His head was throbbing with a headache; his legs felt as if he had run a marathon (a pain he hadn't felt since the first week of football training); his stomach swirled in dizziness. But nothing hurt as much as his arm did; it was as if every bone in it had been broken into tiny pieces and has been stuck together with staples. It was the same hand he used to stab that horrible creature…

_Jack_…

Fear possessed his body, now. The pain numbed, and he quickly stood up. As he did so, he felt like throwing up. He felt much more worried as he put his glasses on.

Hiccup didn't recognize the room he was standing in. The room wasn't precisely a "room;" it felt more like a hole in the ground. It smelled like damp grass; the walls were made out of thick earth; there were small plants and vegetation crawling their way into the room through the dome-like ceiling.

_Where am I? Where's Jack?_

Hiccup looked around. There were colorful egg-like ornaments all over the rough wood furniture, which basically consisted of one desk, a bed, and a chair. It was a very small room, Hiccup noted. He walked around the room, still feeling nauseated. There was candy in a nest-like bowl on the desk, and parchment-like clean notebooks, bound with leather covers. Thin wooden tip-less pencils lied around the desk, next to a small vial of with blue ink. There were no closets, no light bulbs, and no power sockets. There was only a small flickering lit candle on the desk.

But there was no sign of his white-haired friend.

The brunette started panicking. There were no windows, so there was no way of telling the time. _My watch… _Instinctively, Hiccup lifted his left arm and watched his empty wrist; and until then, he hadn't noticed he wasn't wearing _his_ clothes. Instead, he was wearing a pale-blue nightgown, obviously very oversized for him. It looked more like a very ill fitting dress. Taking a closer look, Hiccup noticed the reindeers-and-cookies pattern on it.

He took it off, and noticed he was naked. His body shivered as he turned the gown inside out, and checked where the label would usually stand. Instead, there were three letters: E. A. B.

"Kid, are you —? Jeez! What the hell, mate! Put some clothes on!"

Hiccup turned around.

_Oh, you've got to be joking…_

* * *

"Jack! Come here! There's something you've got to see!"

"What is it, Hic?"

"I don't know! Come!"

Jack walked inside the house, holding his staff with both hands. He followed the track of red steps on the floor, which led him to a very small room at the very far end of the house. There was a pit in the middle of it, from which a terrible stink emanated. There were bones inside, some still with flesh.

"Hic?"

"JACK! HELP ME!"

Jack's legs felt frozen. He wanted to run; he wanted to help Hiccup, wherever he was. But he literally couldn't move his feet. Suddenly, blood started gushing out from the pit. It came out in copiously, quickly flooding the room up to Jack's ankles. He started to cry, whispering, "Hiccup, I'm sorry, I'm sorry I failed you…"

The blood turned into a sick green, and the pit started to throw out four-leaf clovers, along with thick, golden medallions. As quickly as before, the thick green liquid reached Jack's hips. Jack started crying even more, feeling his every muscle paralyzed.

A strong, crisp voice appeared from the room's walls, so loud Jack felt pain in his ears. "Jack, you have failed us… You have failed the Guardians… You shall no longer live eternally…"

"No, I… I am sorry, North, it's not —"

"There is nothing you can do anymore, Jack… It is all lost…"

A mad laugh joined North's voice, and Jack recognized it immediately: it was Pitch's.

The liquid reached his neck, and within a couple of seconds, his nostrils were filled with the pestilent fluid. He started choking, madly trying to breath. He felt he was going to die… but he didn't. He just kept on choking, as the mad laugh vibrated through every cell in his body. Suddenly, he stopped choking, and everything went black.

* * *

Jack woke up.

The smell of cookies and cinnamon made him gag, and covered his face with the thick sheets covering him. But as soon as he did so, he let out a scream of pain. His ribs hurt so much he felt himself going faint. Biting the sheets, he surveyed his ribcage with his fingers. Jack found thick bandages around his stomach and ribs, and a wet spot somewhere below his left ribs. He touched it.

It was so painful he ended up vomiting next to the bed.

* * *

"So… this is your house?"

"My very humble, yes."

Both Bunny and Hiccup were sitting across from each other in a dark oak table. The Easter Bunny (Hiccup was still having some problems in believing this) had prepared dark-green-leaves salad, and what tasted like organic coffee but looked like celery shake. The kitchen they were eating in was very brightly lit with sunlight. Hiccup finally knew the time of the day: it was early in the morning.

"And… where are we, exactly?"

"We are deep under the Australian Outback, kid."

"Oh… That explains the accent."

"Yeah, it does."

Talking to a huge rabbit felt awkward, to put it mildly. But there was something in Bunny's eyes that made Hiccup actually believe he was safe there, under the Australian Outback… wherever that was.

"So, Mr. Bunnymund—"

Bunny chuckled.

"—Bunny, Jack's at—"

"At the North Pole, under North's care. He is being treated for that cursed wound that darn leprechaun gave him."

"And," Hiccup's throat was in a knot, "is he going to be okay?"

Bunny stared at the ceiling's opening, which shed all the sunlight that was present in the room. "I hope so, mate."

Hiccup felt at the verge of tears. It bugged him so much not being able to help Jack. He just wanted to see those white locks again, to hear that light-hearted laugh, and to completely erase the burning memory of his agonizing screams from… last night?

"Uh, Bunny… For how long was I—?"

"Out? Gee, I think you were out for three days, alright!"

"Three _days?!_ Oh, dear! My dad's gonna kill me! If I don't —"

"Take it easy, hothead! We've sent someone to talk to him. We explained why we needed you and the cat to stay with—"

"Toothless? _He's_ here too?"

As if it had being summoned, the black cat jumped out of a room right into its master's lap, and immediately curling and purring in Hiccup's embrace.

"Hey, buddy! How are you? How are you, Toothless? I missed you, buddy. I — You were brave, bud, you were _so_ brave!"

Bunny watched with a stern gaze the greeting, arching backwards into his chair.

"That's something you need to explain to us, kid. How did the cat scare that… monster. And we will try to stop him. You, Jack, us; the whole team. The leprechaun's becoming too much of a danger to be let out there. And so does that bushranger Pitch."

Hiccup nodded solemnly. It felt like a huge responsibility, but he had seen the horrors that monster had let loose in his own town; he could only imagine what other kind of terrors was the thing capable of producing. And he wasn't planning on finding out.

Bunny stood up. "Alright, finish your brekkie. We're moving today to North's. Pack your stuff," he stopped as he was moving towards the door, and turned around. "Frost's gonna be grinning like a shot fox when he sees ya." Then he smiled, and walked out.

"I don't understand half the stuff he says, honestly," Hiccup whispered to Toothless, which was nibbling his shirt.

* * *

"Take it easy, Jack," North's soft voice felt like cold water over a burn in Jack's ears. "Don't move. You were badly hurt."

"Where's Hic — Hiccup?"

"Kid is good, he is at Bunny's house. He will arrive in no time, Jack. For now, you just relax and let magic work."

"Magic? What magic?"

"Your wound, it is cursed. The blade that made it is too," North's voice sounded frighteningly worrying. "We — we tried everything, Jack. But you didn't stop blood. It wasn't until a yeti," he chuckled, "taught us cure. It worked immediately, and you will be okay in no time, you'll see."

Jack didn't feel like that was going to happen. He still felt at the verge of vomit and faint. He just wanted to see that messy brunette head again; he _needed _to see it. Jack fell asleep again, thinking of their first kiss — of _his_ first kiss.

* * *

_The North Pole._

It was definitely _not_ how Hiccup imagined it. He attributed his image of the North Pole to too many Christmas movies; a small cottage, with the smell of cookies and milk in the air. But nothing prepared him for the monstrosity that was North's place.

Dozens of turrets in Russian-esque architecture covered a very steep mountainside, with every light being lit up inside the turrets' windows. A Russian palace was nothing he ever expected. The view was breathtaking. A small cry of surprise managed to come out of his mouth as the very first few sunlight rays illuminated the snow-covered vista.

_If I had seen this as a little kid, I would've never stopped believing in Santa._

Bunny and Hiccup crossed a long suspended bridge, leaving the beauty of Santa's House to their right. At the end of the bridge, two huge furry figures were expecting them. Toothless, who was inside Hiccup's coat, started hissing.

"Easy, boy, they're just…" _What are they?_

"These are two of the yetis, mate," Bunny whispered, barely opening his mouth. "Don't say anything that might come off as threatening; leave the talking to me."

As they met the yetis, one of them started making awful noises and brusque grunts in such a way that he appeared to be saying anything; Hiccup didn't understand a thing. But Bunny seemed to get it, for he replied to the yeti, "Yeah, he's expecting us. We brought Frost's gift."

Hiccup blushed slightly as the yeti looked at him, and murmured something to his companion. Immediately, they started walking towards the huge doors of the palace.

The cold vanished as the group entered through the wooden doors, being met instead with delicious aromas of food and sweets, and the kind of warmth that makes you feel at home no matter where you are.

One of the yetis bluntly took Hiccup's jacket and knitted hat, and shoved them in a closet near a tremendously long staircase. The main hall looked imposing, with the ceiling several yards above the ground, and colorful paintings representing what Hiccup took for the place's history. He let Toothless walk with them, and even the cat seemed to be amused by the place.

The yetis led them to the top of the staircase, and into a bass relief decorated door. They appeared at a study, with a fireplace big enough to cook a bison in, and warm enough to immediately draw them in like a magnet. The walls were covered with bookshelves, and these with books of all kinds. In the center, next to the fireplace, were a couple of comfortable-looking sofas upholstered in red leather. Toothless immediately jumped ton top of one, and relaxed in front of the fire.

Hiccup saw it, then. His entire body reacted to Jack's staff placed neatly on the mantelpiece.

"He really _is_ something, isn't he?"

"Yeah," Hiccup replied in a whisper, as if the books were to fall at the slightest disturbance.

"Wait 'til you see the workshop," Bunny said cryptically.

"The — the _what?_"

Suddenly, the door burst open, and the enormous figure of North and the bright silhouette of the Sandman appeared through the frame. North walked with the arms wide open, while Sandy said enough with his eyes.

"Welcome, welcome!" he joyously said, mainly to Hiccup. "Impressive, I believe! Wondrously powerful enough to stand the attack of an entire army, and beautiful as to bring tears to the eyes: my house."

"It is quite something, sir," Hiccup said, admiring the vast room.

"Please, call me North."

The door opened for a second time, and a tray full of cookies entered and moved towards them. It wasn't until North picked it up with a delighted sigh that Hiccup realized it wasn't moving on its own. Beneath it, small elves with red suits and golden boots giggled and played, looking both uncomfortable and cheerful.

_So they do exist…_

"Go, go!" North said, threatening the small beings with a huge boot. After chewing and swallowing a cookie, he spoke again. "Jack is feeling better. He could not sleep last night. Nightmares," he diagnosed, dramatically. "But he soon will feel much much better, am I right?"

He was looking straight to Hiccup now, and was sporting an enigmatic grin.

_He surely knows._

"Thank you, North," Hiccup started, "for taking care of him. I — I couldn't — I am sorry I passed out that night, I —"

"It was blessing Sandy found you that night."

Sandman looked pleased his name had been given credit, and modestly vowed a "You're welcome" to Hiccup. He smiled back.

"Where's Tooth, North? Is she coming too? We need her too —"

"Tooth will come, Bunny. Patience. Meanwhile," he looked at Hiccup again. "We will see Jack."

* * *

The room smelled minty. It was very cold in that part of the palace, and Hiccup imagined North turned the heat down especially for Jack. Actually, the room had taken the essence of Jack: it was blue, cold, and fresh.

He was asleep, now; even snoring at times. Hiccup realized he had never seen Jack asleep. Both had usually fallen asleep and woken up at the same time, so he had never had the chance. But now… Jack looked weak. His eyes had a shade of violet, and his hair looked lifeless and dull. He even had frost on his nose.

Hiccup took a small tissue from the nightstand, and rubbed the ice from Jack's nose. When he was done, he kissed his cheek.

Jack slowly opened his eyes. A smile formed rapidly on his lips.

"Hey," he said, with croaky voice.

"Hey," Hiccup answered. He hadn't realized he had damp eyes until he smiled, and the tears ran through his cheeks.

"Did you miss me?"

"Not really. I was glad winters wouldn't be so cold."

Jack chuckled. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, then. Winters will be twice as cold just for that."

Hiccup giggled, caressing Jack's hair. He was so happy they were finally together in the same room. But above all, he felt relieved. He had thought for one small second back at Bunny's warren that he would never again see the same blue eyes that stared at his own right then.

"Hic — Hic, I'm sorry I made you go through this, I —"

"Don't even try, you big idiot. It wasn't your fault."

"Of course it was, I dragged you into –"

"It was the leprechaun's fault, and no one else's."

Jack's face turned into a bitter configuration. "Pitch."

Silence fell between them. Both stared at the bed sheets. Hiccup realized there were small moving reindeer all over the duvet, and immediately recalled the nightgown he had woken up in that day.

"Bunny saw me naked," he confessed.

Jack's face was priceless.

"Not on purpose, of course."

"Why, now I feel better. The Ester Kangaroo has seen my guy naked and I haven't. What a blast!"

Both kids laughed hard, but Jack's laughter turned into painful howls very quickly. He ended up chuckling and coughing, whilst still smiling.

"I was afraid I would never see you again, y'know?"

"I was too, Jack," Hiccup kissed Jack's cold hand. "But we are here again. And when you're better, we'll go after the monster."

"Wait, _we_ aren't going anywhere! I can't let you — I won't —!"

"Jack, there's nothing you could say that would make me stay where you're not. I'm not letting you go again. Besides," Hiccup winked, "I bring the master weapon."

Hiccup lifted Toothless and let it fall on the bed, which immediately went to rub his tail against Jack's neck.

"The master weapon? I don't —"

"After you were stabbed, Toothless and I fought Patrick. But at the sight of Toothless, he looked as if he had just seen the devil. He ran backwards; Toothless carved his face. It was confusing, but I managed to remember it. Apparently, the leprechaun is afraid of cats."

"Not just cats," said Tooth, who had just entered the room. She smelled like lavender, making a wonderful combination of smells in the room. "How are you feeling, Jack?"

"Better," he said, turning to see Hiccup with a big smile. Hiccup felt his face grow hotter. "You said, 'not just cats.' What do you mean?"

"I mean he's not just afraid of _cats._ He's afraid of black cats. That's what raised the myth that black cats were unlucky —"

"Because they made good luck run away," Jack finished, softly.

"Your cat will help us beat Patrick and Pitch, Hiccup," Tooth said, moving closer to him. "Are you up to the challenge?"

Hiccup nodded, more confidently than he had at Bunny's. Seeing Jack had revitalized his spirits. He not only felt he had the responsibility in his hands: he felt he could even win.

Jack looked at him, and smiled tenderly.

The Tooth Fairy seemed to notice it too, because she immediately soared a few feet off the ground and said, "Well, I'll leave you two alone."

But just as she was about to leave the room, she said with a smile, "By the way, Hiccup… You've got beautiful big teeth."

Hiccup chuckled. "She's too kind."

"No, it is true. I love your teeth."

Hiccup turned to see Jack. Something about him there, in bed, probably suffering a lot of pain, and still complimenting (biasedly, to Hiccup's eyes) him made tenderness melt his insides.

He smiled lovingly, and moved to the bed. He slipped inside carefully, and just held Jack in his arms.

"You know, I'd go through anything for you. I —"

"I know," he said, with honesty in his voice. "I know you would."

Hiccup kissed Jack's head, and caressed his white locks, whispering, "You'll be fine, you'll see."

Jack fell asleep almost instantly in his arms, and Hiccup reminded himself why he adore the kid so much: even while being cold, Jack managed to warm Hiccup inside, and bring out the best of him like steam.

Toothless had curled around Jack's legs over the duvet, and fallen asleep too. Within seconds, the three of them were sleeping in one tight bundle.

* * *

_I can't believe I'm doing this._

The wind felt like nails cutting his dark skin as he walked up a very steep hillside. Three fearlings came walking behind him, occasionally snorting and sighing.

As he finally reached the very top of the hill, he was dazzled by the colorful and bright sunlight that showered the palace with glitter-like qualities.

Pitch had finally made it.

_The North Pole._


	8. CHAPTER 7

**Hello, HiJackers! Alright, I'm very sorry for the tremendously humongous queue, but you know... finals, projects, teachers, students, failed classes and studying! All that sh*t consumed my time and I didn't even had time to SLEEP! But, I'm finally OVER that, and here's Chapter 7 of this fanfic! **

**Thanks to everyone who still reads it! Really, guys and gals, it's amazing to write for you. Honestly, I feel very blessed to have you guys as audience. Really, keep up the reading! And please, spread the word! **

**Also, I've received a couple of messages saying that this fic shouldn't be rated T, because, well... there's nothing too ****_crazy _****about it. Well, people, wait for it. There'll be quite some stuff I had planned from day one, so trust me, this IS T. Maybe not M (I particularly SUCK writing smut, no pun intended) for now, but definitely T. Either way, I'm pretty sure there are some minors reading M-rated stuff, but whatevs!**

**Oh! P.S. I'm starting to involve a lot of cultural aspects from cultures I don't fully understand, so please, guys, if you see anything that belongs to YOUR culture that's badly represented or poorly treated, let me know and I will correct the issue IMMEDIATELY! thanks for your support (wow, now I feel like Outlook!).**

**So, here it is, guys! Enjoy, comment, review, and please spread the word! **

* * *

There were very few things Jack loved more than snow other than watching his brunette friend sleep. He had done it before, and he wondered for how long he could still do it in the future. But that last thought bothered him, and being the Fun Spirit he was, decided to stare and smile at Hiccup again instead. His chest moved up and down, and from time to time, his nose flinched, as if being hit by a fly. His snoring also varied in volume, going from slow, soft rumbles, to loud snorts.

Jack moved closer to his freckled friend and softly caressed Hiccup's hair. It was soft and shiny. Jack wondered what it smelled like. He moved closer, and soon realized it had been a bad idea. His entire ribcage made him yelp in pain, but he kept it low not to wake Hiccup. Jack took deep breaths until the pain had dissipated, and finally relaxed under the sheets.

Taking another look at Hiccup, Jack decided to explore with his feet whatever was under the sheets with him. He soon realized, though, that his cold feet would probably wake Hiccup, so he rubbed them vigorously against the bed until they were warm enough. And so, he dragged his foot closer to the other teen's legs.

Feeling here and there, Jack realized Hiccup had lost one sock over the course of the night, and the other was just about to slip away as well. He also realized how big Hiccup's feet were; for a small teen, that was. He felt the silky bottom Hiccup had put on after realizing how uncomfortable it was to sleep in jeans; he felt the tender warm skin under them as well. But he also felt something extremely hairy. As Jack wondered why Hiccup had _really_ hairy legs, a soft paw reminded him of a third that had jumped on the bed as he and Hiccup fell asleep the other night. Suppressing a laugh, Jack caressed Toothless's fur with his foot, trying not to evoke any brusque action in the cat.

Jack loved being like that, with Hiccup by his side, and even with the small pet by his feet. _This,_ he wondered, _must be what it feels to have a family._ As tears started sparkling in his eyes, Hiccup moved asleep to place his head on the white-haired teen's shoulder. Blessing the gods, Jack finally managed to smell Hiccup's hair.

"Jack?"

Jack jumped in the bed, startling everyone on it. Hiccup made groaning noises as he came back to consciousness, and Toothless jumped out of the bed to greet the newcomer.

"North! I — this is now what —"

"Jack," North continued, sounding upset, "Pitch is here."

* * *

Bunnymund and Pitch were staring intently at each other. It was such an intense gaze, Tooth had started to move in her seat, overwhelmed by the tension. It felt as if war was about to erupt.

North returned to the room, walking with a forced smile in his lips, and a fast pace.

"So, yes — Jack knows — Jack knows now Pitch is here, and —"

"Did he take it nicely?" asked Pitch.

"Yes, took it like a chimp."

Tooth was about to correct North, but decided against it. She just chuckled.

"Right, well," Pitch continued, "I hope the Snow Fairy can forgive me."

"Oh, I doubt it, mate," Bunny replied. "You see, you did try to kill the poor kid after all, didn't you?"

Pitch rolled his eyes. "Yeah, well. He is the Fun Spirit. I'm _sure_ he'll laugh it off."

"Not without an apology, Pitch," said Tooth.

Sandy nodded.

"Ugh, can I just send him a card or something? Maybe a _boiled egg_?"

"Don't go there, mate," warned Bunny.

"Enough," declared North. "Tell us, Pitch. Why are you here?"

"I come here, to, umm… ask for _your_ help."

"Help… for what exactly?" asked Tooth.

Pitch sighed, rubbing his forehead. "You see, I was plotting against you five."

"Oh, but this is hilarious," announced Bunny, sarcastically. "The mongrel plans to kill us all, and comes like a sook with his shonky business to ask for help? Pig's arse!"

Pitch stared blankly at Bunny, then added, "And how do I turn on the subtitles for this thing?"

As Bunny groaned at Pitch, Sandy rolled his eyes and shook his head.

* * *

"Jack, are you sure you can —"

"Yeah, kiddo, don't worry. It's gonna be fine, you'll see."

"Okay, here comes the hard part," warned Hiccup, as he approached with a clean shirt and Jack's hoodie.

"Right," said Jack. He took a deep breath, and said, "I'm ready, take it off."

"Okay, he we go."

Hiccup held Jack's shirt, and carefully pulled it off. Jack's head was the first thing to come out, but they still needed Jack's arms out.

"Alright, lift your arms."

Nodding fearfully, Jack lifted his arms up.

Immediately, Jack squealed in pain. Hiccup removed the shirt as fast and as carefully as he could, and replaced it with the clean shirt. When he was done, Jack let his arms fall next to him, and took deep breaths. A single tear managed to slide down one of his cheeks.

"Are you okay, Jack?"

Jack smiled. "Been better."

Hiccup kissed Jack's head, and asked, "Still want the hoodie?"

Jack closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and said, "Of course, Hic. I'm nothing without the hoodie."

Hiccup laughed. "Fine. On the count of three, okay? One…"

"Two…"

"Three."

Another squeal of pain filled the air around them.

* * *

"Okay, okay, settle down, everybody!" yelled North, holding a huge hand up.

Pitch and Bunny sat down again. Tooth hovered to her chair, and Sandy simply floated down.

"Pitch, you want help, you have to help _us_ help you. Tell, why did you come?"

Pitch took another deep breath, and started, "As you all probably know by now, Patrick went rogue —"

"'Cause of you!"

"Bunny, that was enough!"

"Yes, because of me. I… _regret_ it… now. But what's done is done."

"Go on."

"After I gave him _unlimited_ power, and he said he had successfully… incapacitated… Jack… I went for the second stage of my plan: to tie loose ends. And as I was going to kill the leprechaun, he turned on me."

Pitch paused.

"He destroyed my lair."

The Nightmare King now had the attention of everyone. Even Bunny lost the mad look on his face.

"And I need your help to stop him. He holds… immeasurable power. And if left loose, well… Who knows what he can do."

Everyone remained silent for a while.

It was Sandy who moved first. He walked towards Pitch and, with reserved attitude, held his hand towards Pitch. Clearly taken aback, Pitch shook the small man's hand in returned with a ceremonial gaze.

Bunny turned to Pitch, and solemnly nodded.

Tooth looked sympathetically at Pitch.

It was North who summed up what everyone was thinking (as was his fashion).

"We help you, Pitch, not because you are good guy, but because we know what it is home for us, and couldn't imagine losing it," he moved closer to the Boogeyman. "Don't forget that."

* * *

"Don't forget what?"

With Hiccup's help, Jack laboriously entered the room, trying to look as fine as his broken ribcage and his cursed wounds allowed him to. He turned to look at Pitch, and Hiccup felt him tense up under his arms.

"Easy," Hiccup whispered, rubbing Jack's back.

"Jack! But how wonderful to see you! You must be thriving with enthusiasm now that you get to share a room with the kid."

Jack's hand clenched painfully in Hiccup's shoulder, making it almost impossible for the brunette to hold back a scream of pain. So this was the Pitch Black everyone was so crazy about. All in black. Even the skin was dark. Hiccup felt shivers down his spine, and suddenly felt disgusted that such creature was hanging around kid's toys and play sets. He felt… rejection towards the character… almost instantly.

"Jack, here is situation," interrupted North. "Pitch lost his lair. The leprechaun destroyed it with dark magic. He's here –"

"Well, it's his fault, isn't it? Shouldn't he do it by himself? As… _punishment?_"

Hiccup cringed at the amount of poisonous hatred imbued in Jack's words. It was hard to imagine that this could be the Jack that first kissed him.

Pitch sighed. "Could I get a moment of privacy with Frost?" After considering it, he added, "Please?"

Bunny started chuckling, looking at North for reassurance, but he simply said, "Five minutes. Come out, Guardians… and kid."

As they walked out, Hiccup approached North and said, "Is it safe to leave those two together?"

North chuckled. "We didn't," he said, as he nodded towards one of the yetis posted at the door. "They warn me if something goes wrong."

Hiccup didn't feel so reassured, but he nodded.

* * *

"You have two minutes, Pitch. Go."

"Look, Jack. What I did was… stupid, and reckless, okay? I _knew_ I couldn't _really_ kill you, so… Technically, I didn't _try_ to!"

"What were you trying to do, then? Tug me up and say, 'Sweet dreams'?"

"No, I…" Pitch sighed. "I was trying to paralyze you for a while, until my plan succeeded. Look, all I'm saying is…" he swallowed hard, "I'm sorry, okay?"

He outstretched a hand.

Jack looked at it, and then at Pitch's face. "I forgive you for threatening me, but not for threatening Hiccup."

A slight smirk appeared in Pitch's face. "Oh, yes… The _mortal_…"

Jack immediately jumped on top of Pitch and held his throat in his hand. He felt excruciating pain in his chest, but he didn't care. "You try to do something to him, you as much as _look_ at him, and you're –"

"What? _Dead?"_

Pitch started laughing. Jack let him go, and sat down in front of Pitch, trying to hold back the tears the waves of pain caused.

The doors burst open, and both Guardians and yetis entered the room. Everyone was armed and battle-ready. Pitch and Jack exchanged looks, and awkwardly stood up.

"You in peace already?"

"Yeah, we're good," Pitch said, mockingly.

"Great! Now, what is battle plan?"

"Battle plan?" Jack asked.

"Well, mate, we _are_ at war. When someone threatens one of us," Bunny looked briefly at Pitch, "they threaten all of us."

Jack smiled at Bunny, who returned a loving gaze. Pitch made a gag sound.

"So, how do we begin?" North said, placing maps, quills, and candles on top of one of the coffee tables.

"Well, I was thinking –" started Pitch.

Jack suddenly felt his stomach sink. He looked around, past yetis and Guardians. _Where's Hiccup?_ Pitch's word "mortal" suddenly had a paralyzing effect on Jack.

"Uh, North? Where's Hi–"

"In his room, getting ready. I sent him home."

"What? I'm – I mean, we are nothing without him and the cat!"

"Wait, Jack, let me finish. I said –"

"He sent him home, Jack," Tooth said, smiling, "but he utterly refused. He said –"

"He said his heart was here, mate."

Sandman created a heart above his head.

Jack smiled unconsciously. _Can anything be more adorable, ladies and gentleman?_

"Aw," let Pitch out. "Cute…"

"Alright!" North said loudly, trying to prevent hell breaking lose again. "Where do we start?"

* * *

"Battle," mumbled Hiccup. "What do I get for battle? What do I have?"

He gazed at his belongings. An empty wallet, a mobile phone, a pen, a scarf, some gloves, and a beanie. And Toothless.

"Nothing," he let out, disappointed. "What are we gonna do, bud?"

A knock on the door made Hiccup jump. A yeti was standing at the door, holding a very large leather bulge in his hands. He gestured for Hiccup to make space on the bed. Hiccup moved everything on it, and the heavy package was let down.

"What is this?"

The yeti gestured to a strap around his chest. As he turned, he saw a heavy ax attached to it.

"Weapons," he muttered.

As the yeti walked out of the room, Hiccup quickly opened the leather package. Shiny new weapons lied inside, from knives to swords. He studied the contents, determining the usefulness of each weapon. He felt inside the waiting room of one of his video games, picking the weapon for the big finale.

Suddenly, his gaze stopped on a medium-sized knife with a dragon carved on the handle. He took it out of the sheath and black metal glistened under the lamplight. Instantly, Hiccup fell in love with the knife. Mainly because it reminded him of the dragon knife he had in his room. He thought of home, then. And of his father. His eyes stung as he thought of what would happened if he died in this quest. What if he never returned home?

Hiccup looked up, and saw Toothless staring at him, with reassuring eyes. This was one of the moments when he thought Toothless was more human than cat. He smiled as he pet his friend.

"What are we doing here, Toothless?" The cat purred, and scratched the bedding. "Right," Hiccup said, "we're gonna fight."

After taking out the dragon knife, a utility knife, and a small ax, Hiccup started rolling the package again. He noticed, however, there was a second compartment behind the weapons one. He opened it, and saw leather strappings and gauntlets.

"Armor," he said.

He took out the gauntlets, a chest piece, some protection for the legs, and belts to place his weapons, all of which, curiously, fitted perfectly. To his surprise, there was even a cat-sized set of leather armor, all attached. There was a small red ribbon tied to it, with a note saying, "For: Toothless, From: Santa."

Hiccup smiled, and helped his furry friend get in the armor. Remarkably, the cat seemed to feel very comfortable wearing the leather straps and belts around his body. Hiccup laughed.

"It seems you were born for this, bud!"

Suddenly, it hit him. Toothless _was_ born for this. He was born to fight. Hadn't he survived a terrible accident when he was just a kitty? He did fight the leprechaun off, didn't he? Maybe that was his destiny; maybe it was written. Hiccup wondered if the legendary creatures outside knew anything about this.

What about him, though? Was he also destined to fight? Or was he about to meet his untimely finale?

Shaking the last thoughts out of his head, Hiccup finished placing his weapons in place, and walked out of the room to the Hall, followed closely by Toothless.

He thought of something that made him blush bright red. What if Jack laughed of his outfit?

"Oh, no," he murmured.

* * *

"Very well," Pitch started, "First of all, we can't defeat Patrick by ourselves, okay? He's way more powerful than we are, now. We will need the help of other legendary beings and mythical figures."

"And who are these figures, mate?"

"I'm talking about old magic, very powerful. Very far away, too. Places that are protected against intruders. These are beings that spent their lives _avoiding_ the Guardians, alright?"

"Not unlike you, Pitch," said Tooth.

"Precisely, Toothiana."

Sandman created a world map on top of his head, marking several spots and scratching some others.

"They live in Asia, little man."

The Guardians exchanged worried looks.

"You wouldn't be talking about _that_ guy, would you, Pitch?"

"I am, Bunnymund."

"Why, this is madness, mate! We've spent our lives avoiding them, too! They're… weirdos!"

"He's right, Pitch," North conceded. "Shen wasn't even selected by Man in Moon. He existed before us, and –"

"Not before me, North," Pitch said, quietly. "Not before me."

Sandman twisted his mouth showing concern.

"What's your plan, Pitch?" finally asked Tooth.

"My _plan_ is that we go ask for their help. As simple as that."

"_Their_ help?"

"Yes… We need the Three Stars, as well."

Bunny laughed. "So, your plan is that we go looking for beings that want us _dead_, in order to defeat another being who _also_ wants us dead? Great plan, mate!"

"Got any other plans, Bunnymund?"

Bunny was about to reply, but he remained silent.

"I'm sorry, I'm not following," said Jack, with some annoyance in his voice. "The _Three Stars_? Shen? What is all this? And _why_ do they want us dead?"

"Look, Jack," started North. "Long before we were chosen by Man in Moon, but _after_ Pitch came to be, the magic around this Earth was still unbalanced and uncontrolled. Beings appeared out of nowhere, normal people gained powers, and terrible creatures emanated from the center of the Earth. All those stories and legends out there have a grain of truth. Kelpies, mermaids, even dragons. All have roots in something that is _real_.

Among these creatures is Cai Shen, a war hero that gained his powers when his nephew killed him. Afterwards, like all of us, he became related with a holiday. In his case, Chinese New Year. He is venerated, then."

"But why does he want you guys dead?"

"Because we were _not_ in his plan, Jack. Because we came out of nowhere. Just like Pitch, he thought he was alone. Of course, we have no rivalry with him."

"What about the Stars you mentioned?"

It was Pitch the one who talked, then. "The Three Stars, Fu, Lu, and Shou, represent good fortune, prosperity, and longevity, respectively. They are the three attributes of a good life. Together, they make one's life perfect. Of course, it is _obvious_ the one I'm interested in."

"Fu," said Jack, softly.

"Indeed, Jack. Good _fortune_."

"Luck."

"Yes."

"And do we know where they live?" asked Bunny.

"No, we don't. There is only one guy, however, who knows where all these figures live."

"Why does he know that?"

"Because, when Shen decided to spread his goodwill and fortune across the globe, he realized he needed help. So he created, as consequence, more mythical figures to spread that fortune. The oldest one, the one that in turn created Patrick mac T'áhd, lives in Sweden, and is probably the only one who remembers where Shen and the Three Stars live."

"My old friend Nisse," said North.

"Tomte," declared Pitch, "yes."

"So, we have first to go to Sweden?"

"Precisely, Jack."

Jack's stomach whirled.

* * *

As Hiccup approached the door, Jack walked out of it. He looked tired, but seemed to walk more healthily than before.

"Jack! How are you feeling?"

"Better, Hic," he said, obviously faking a smile. Hiccup decided to ignore it.

"Have you guys planed it all, already?"

"Yes."

"When do we leave?"

"You can't come, Hic."

"Look, Jack, don't get me started. I've already told the others that –"

"I can't afford to lose you, Hiccup."

Jack moved closer now, and held him in his arms.

"Jack, I won't let you go alone."

"I won't! I'd be with the Guardians, and –"

"And Pitch, Jack. I… I don't wanna lose you either, Jack."

"Look, Sweden is very dangerous on itself. Let alone China! We can't – you can't – if you go there, I –"

"Jack, you _know_ I won't let you out there alone, right? Haven't I proved to be ridiculously stubborn?"

Hiccup smiled, and, slowly, so did Jack.

"I'm sorry I brought you into all this, Hic."

"We're here for each other, Jack. That's what _we _do. Stick with each other, right?"

Jack kissed Hiccup's nose.

"I got your back, kiddo."

"I got yours, Jack."

After looking into each other's eyes for what seemed like a long time, Jack finally spoke.

"Alright, you can come, but if the occasion should present itself, promise me you'll do _exactly _as I say. If I say run, you run, is that clear? Promise me, Hiccup, that if there's a need for you to run and leave me there, you'll do so. Promise."

"I – Jack, you can't –"

"Yes I can, Hic. Promise!"

Hiccup sighed. "I promise."

"Really? So fast?" Jack laughed. "Of course I wouldn't ask you for that, Hic! Jeez, what got into you?"

Both teenagers laughed. Hiccup felt a huge weight being lifted off his shoulders, seeing Jack joke as usual. He caressed Jack's hair, and kissed him.

"By the way," Jack had said, almost out of breath, "what's with the outfit, little warrior?"

Hiccup felt blood rush to his cheeks. "Don't go there."

Jack laughed all the way to the room, while Toothless looked at them both, almost cluelessly.

* * *

_North._

Patrick had walked effortlessly across snow and mud, up and down hills, across valleys and forests, to find this precious view.

Now, he gazed at the fortress, looking at yeti guards and barriers with his new enhanced vision. Getting inside would be like taking candy from a child.

Lights flickered inside. How funny would it be when the whole building collapsed on the little beings inside. He wondered what was a Guardian's spectrum of pain. He recalled Jack Frost's screams. _Was that _all_ you could endure? Or can I push the barrier a little more?_ _How long will your friends take to recover? Will the yetis recover at all?_

With a smile, he started moving closer to the Winter Palace.

Suddenly, however, he decided against it.

_I'll have my chance, later. _

He would need an army for that, however. One strong enough to hold the Guardians for centuries.

_And who's more perfect at supplying armies than a master of illusions?_

Patrick wondered how long would it take for him to get to Sweden.


	9. CHAPTER 8

**As I promised, a new update! I actually ****_love_**** working on these chapters! Especially now, that stakes are rising! I hope you like mystery, people!**

**NOTE: there's a murder in this chapter. I'm obviously influence by my newfound love in a TV series called "Hannibal." It won't be the last one, but sure is the last ****_gruesome_**** one. Just clearing that out, if there's anyone with a problem.**

**NOTE 2: I also try my hand at writing a semi-sexy scene. Please (as always) your feedback is VERY welcomed!**

**Also, later today I'll post a "deleted scene" for this chapter on my tumblr, make sure you check it out! It's something that was in the chapter at first, but then I decided to take it out due to... effect purposes.**

**Enjoy!**

* * *

CHAPTER 8

Everyone looked tense during breakfast the following day. Pitch, despite being offered a room, had decided to spend the night in the forest, to revisit his "better times," as he put it. The Guardians had agreed on leaving as well, so they would have time to prepare their belongings for the trip. Jack and Hiccup had nowhere to go, so they were the only ones who had accepted North's offer of a cozy room. Both Guardians and Pitch had arrived just a few minutes ago, and they were all seated at the huge table at North's Dining Hall.

For some time, the only thing that was heard across the table was the tickling and scraping of the silverware and dishes, until Pitch spoke.

"So, is the child coming?"

Everyone stopped eating, and turned immediately to look at Hiccup. Jack shot a poisonous glare at Pitch. Hiccup started to feel really nervous, now.

"Yes," declared Jack. "He _is _coming."

"Good, good," said Pitch, seemingly oblivious of the tension. "It would be such a pity that we left him here," he looked at Hiccup, "and your cat."

Toothless growled. He was lying on a couch, nibbling on the hat of an elf. The elf in question was looking at it both disapprovingly and curiously.

"Ye – Yeah," clumsily said Hiccup, "we need Toothless, he fought the leprechaun back when he attacked us."

"Oh, so I've heard," said Pitch, moving his head closer to Hiccup, even though they were across each other. "Tell me, any ideas of _how_ he did it?"

Hiccup felt he was falling on a trap, so he glanced at Jack, then back to Pitch and shrugged.

Pitch nodded.

After a few seconds, everyone returned to their meals. Everyone, except Jack. He stared at Hiccup. The latter was conscious of this, but he didn't want to look back. Hiccup feared he would encounter a scared look on Jack's face, or worse. He shook off the thought, though, and finally turned to look at him.

He was smiling. Jack was smiling. It wasn't a sad or solemn smile, one that you'd give to someone who's about to die or someone who's about to fail a test. It was a proud smile. An encouraging one. Hiccup simply smiled back, feeling warm and funny inside.

But the moment was short lived, for Hiccup soon realized Pitch was _also_ staring at them, with a similar smile on his face; he was mocking them.

After they finished eating, North asked everyone to go to the Study to plan how they would get to Sweden. Hiccup was about to go to his room, when…

"I want you too there, Hiccup," North said.

"M – me? I – I don't think I know –"

"You often forget whom you're talking to, Hiccup," North inflated his chest. "I'm Nicholas St. North, I _know_ who's naughty and who's nice, remember? I _see_," he opened his eyes wide, "everything."

"I – well, then you _should_ know I tend to make a mess of things, and –"

"And I also know you are brave at heart," he finished, with a warm smile. "We need you, Hiccup. You solve problems you cause, don't you?"

Hiccup merely nodded. He was overwhelmed such powerful beings _needed_ his help. He moved closer to Jack, and as he did so, the white-haired teen whispered, "Thank you."

Followed by that, Jack caught Hiccup in a meltingly warm embrace.

* * *

"Look, I'm telling you, the tunnels are a much faster _and_ safer medium of transportation, and I won't –"

"Bunny, Bunny," North patted Bunny's head. "Nothing safer than Sleigh."

Jack giggled. He turned to see Hiccup, who was watching the argument with an I'm-about-to-burst-into-laughter smile. He suddenly turned, and both caught each other's gaze. Jack smiled even more.

It was quite amazing the effect that kid had on Jack. He was sure, given the chance, that he would do _anything_ for Hiccup. The brunette had become his inspiration, his will of life, his everything; Hiccup had become… his.

"Ugh, can we just wrap this up? I honestly feel the vibe in this room will soon get me into a diabetic coma," Pitch exclaimed, posing his gaze on Jack and Hiccup at the end.

_Strike two, Pitch,_ Jack thought, piercing Pitch with a toxic glare. _One more, and you're out._

Jack suddenly felt Hiccup's hand in his, and as if by magic, Jack's tense body relaxed, and he could _feel_ his blood cool down again. Accidentally, Jack caught Sandy looking at him, and slightly gesturing for Jack to calm down.

"Alright, alright," declared Bunny, giving up with his paws. "What if we divide ourselves into teams? If that old twit decided to have a go on us, he won't know where t hit! Separated we would have a better chance of getting there, won't we?"

"Divide and conquer, Bunny," North said, shaking his head.

"Look, mate, if we go _all_ on a bloody Sleigh, we'll be easy targets! Picture this," he said, as he addressed everyone, "we all traveling south on a flying can. Is there anything _easier_ to hit?"

"I hate to say this," started Pitch, looking down, "but I agree with the rabbit. We'll be an easy target up high."

"Trust me, Pitch, with me in charge, nothing safer than Sleigh."

"Look," said Tooth, "North, you feel safer in the Sleigh, and Bunny feels more comfortable –"

"And safe!"

"– and safe in his tunnels. So why don't we separate?"

North thought for a while, with a concerned look on his face. After a while, however, he smiled and nodded.

"Very well, then. Those who want to ride Sleigh with me, hands up!"

Sandy was the first too raise his hand. To Jack's surprise, Hiccup didn't take long either to raise his. Jack followed.

"Ace, so it's Tooth and Pitch with me," said Bunny, trying to hide his disappointment.

Tooth laughed nervously. "What can I say, my fairies love the tunnels!" Jack knew she was trying to convince herself.

"Yuppie!" let out Pitch, sarcastically. "So, are we leaving yet?"

"We leave when Sleigh is ready," said North, quickly rising from the chair he had been sitting on. "In forty minutes."

Having said that, he left the room.

"Well, I – I'll go check on Baby Tooth, see if there's any trouble!" declared Tooth before exiting the room.

"I'll go tune my boomerangs."

Sandy simply walked out, whistling.

"Wanna pack?" Jack asked Hiccup quietly.

"Yes, please," the other answered, relieved.

They rose and where about to leave the Study when Pitch said, "Don't take _too_ long, lover-boys."

Jack did his best to ignore him.

* * *

Toothless was licking his paw on the bed, while Hiccup stuffed a dirty shirt into a leather shoulder bag. Jack was sitting on the floor, looking at him pack. His gaze met Hiccup's bottom, and Jack chuckled softly. A naked Hiccup crossed his mind, and Jack quickly felt his groin grow larger. He quickly stood up.

Jack went to kiss the back of Hiccup's neck, moving on to the sides of it. Hiccup let out a very soft moan, which didn't help at all Jack's _issue_. He ran his hand across Hiccup's chest, then his belly, then ventured under his shirt. Hiccup jumped a little under his cold touch, but soon relaxed again.

"Jack, what are you doing?"

"Kissing you, fool," Jack mumbled, softly biting Hiccup's neck.

Hiccup chuckled. "Jack, I appreciate your… lovingness, but, is this really the time?"

"If not now, then when, Hic?" Jack turned Hiccup so he could face him.

Hiccup kissed Jack full on the mouth, then backed off and said, "When all this is over, when we sort out everything we need to sort out, I'll convince Gobber to take my dad into a hunting trip. That should give us… around three days on our _own_."

Jack groaned, as he kissed Hiccup again. _Not today, Jack_. "Promise?"

Hiccup laughed, kissing Jack's nose. "Promise."

Toothless had stopped licking his paws and was giving full attention to the couple, now. Hiccup turned to his packing again, while Jack still held him in his arms.

"Where did that bag come from?"

"Bunny gave it to me," Hiccup said matter-of-factly, "back at his Warren."

"Looks like really nice leather."

"It's emu leather. I asked myself."

"Done," Hiccup said, as he stuffed the utility knife in the outer pocket of the bag.

"Hiccup, are you sure you –"

"Don't make me start again, Jack. You _know_ I wouldn't let you go out there alone."

"But Hic," Jack tried to say this as calmly as possible, "I'm immortal… You're not."

"Yeah, you're immortal, but not pain-proof! Look at what the wound cause you!"

"Which is has _almost_ healed entirely!" Jack lied. He could move his arms, now. But every few moments, bolts of pain shook his body. "I'm fine, now. If this happened to you, you won't be."

"I am willing to take the risk, Jack."

Jack saw then sheer determination in Hiccup's green eyes through the glasses. He realized the brunette was stronger than he seemed. He recalled North's words, "…brave at heart… We need you, Hiccup." _I need you more._

"Okay," Jack conceded, "just promise me you won't make a mess!"

Hiccup laughed. "I'll try!"

Jack spent the rest of his time with Hiccup torture-tickling him on the bed, kissing him every now and then, with Toothless jumping all around them. The more he spent with Hiccup, the more he wanted the moment to last. Finally, the three of them lied half asleep on the bed.

* * *

"Jack?"

"Yeap?"

"I think I'm falling in love with you."

Jack sat quickly on the bed. His heart was painfully pounding in his chest.

"Are you?"

"Yes."

"I – Hic, I –" _Just say it, goddamn it! _"I'm starting to fall in love with you too."

Hiccup sat next to him now, and softly caressed Jack's hair.

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

"How incredibly stupid you are, little freak. Did you really think someone could love you?"

Jack's heart sank to his feet.

"Were you really naïve enough to even _think_ someone would fall in love with such lost creature? You're an _abomination_, Jack."

Hiccup's face suddenly morphed into Pitch's, and his hand moved to his neck, choking him.

"I'm gonna save you from your misery, Jack. Right here, right now."

Jack tried desperately to fight back, but soon realized Pitch outmatched his strength. His started sinking into the shadows, into oblivion.

He saw both Hiccup and Toothless nailed to the roof.

* * *

"Jack?"

Hiccup felt his heart in his throat. Jack Frost was whining on the bed, his shirt soaking wet.

"Jack, wake up!"

Suddenly, Jack let out a cry, and sat on the bed almost instantly, eyes wide open.

"Jack, Jack, it's okay, it's alright, Jack, it was just a dream you don't have to –"

Jack embraced Hiccup suddenly in the tightest embrace the latter had ever experienced. He could _feel_ Jack's sobbing, as the Snow Sprite caressed his hair.

"Jack, it's okay, whatever it was, it's over, now."

Hiccup hugged Jack harder, trying to comfort him. Jack collapsed his head on Hiccup's shoulder, and he kissed it.

"Shhh, everything's gonna be okay, Jack."

Slowly, Hiccup felt Jack calm down. When he was ready, Jack lifted his and faced Hiccup, revealing teary eyes and a pink nose.

"You okay?"

Jack nodded, sniffing. "I'm sorry, Hic – I'm a mess –"

"Nothing to apologize, Jack."

Jack nodded again.

"Alright," Hiccup said. "Now clean up, before you stain my shirt with your snot!"

Toothless stared at the Frost Youth with worried eyes. Jack laughed, wiping his nose with a towel.

* * *

A lonely cabin was located at the very heart of the Kilsbergen forest in Sweden. Three people inhabited the cabin: a very old man with a very white long beard named Tomas Törleif Nisse, and two goblins, Rúni and Gautr. The goblins belonged to a race in extinction called _urisk_, being these two and four other siblings the only last survivors of the race. The trio had populated the cabin for almost a thousand years, and the only two times they had been unable to predict such freakish snowstorm had been when the Snow Witch Yuki-onna attacked the Western world, and when the Hrimthurs were at war with the locals.

Now, however, would be the third time they experienced an unexpected snowstorm. a very unfortunate event, for Tomas was planning on having a delicious goat picnic with himself later that afternoon. He would have to eat the goat with the unpleasant company of Rúni and Gautr.

As Tomas started placing the tablecloth on the cold floor of the cabin, yet another unexpected event took place: someone knocked on the door. It wasn't the _knocked_ of that phrase that was unexpected, though; it was the _someone_.

Hiding a steak knife inside his sleeve, Tomas went to open the door. But as he approached the knob, the door was shot towards Tomas, smashing his old body against the wall behind him. If he hadn't been one of the Old Ones, he would've died instantly.

Kicking the door off him, Tomas tried to visualize who had the _someone_ that entered his cabin. A dark, short, cloaked figure was motionlessly standing at the doorframe, holding a small knife in his hand. Tomas recalled the knife he himself had under his sleeve. He let it slide down his sleeve into his hand, and soon realized the knife had cut his own arm.

"Don't try fighting back, Tomte," spoke the figure, in local tongue.

"Who are you?" Tomte asked, suddenly scared. "What do you want with such an old soul like me?"

"Do you not remember me, Tomte? Me, your best apprentice?"

Tomte's hands started to shake. "My last apprentice would have never done something as atrocious as this. He was a Protector."

"Your last _apprentice_ decided he had had enough of being a Holiday _mascot_, and searches now for a higher purpose."

Tomte chuckled. "A higher purpose, Patrick? One involving murder and destruction?"

"No," Patrick replied. "One involving _you_ turning your powers in to _me_."

"I no longer posses those powers, Patrick. Wouldn't I had created an illusion to distract you if I did?"

"You're too old now, Tomte," Patrick said, mockingly. "Don't try making excuses."

Tomte didn't hesitate a second before he launched his armed hand towards Patrick's neck. But he stumbled and fell face first on the floor, just a few inches from Patrick's feet.

_How?_

"You're _no_ match for me, Tomte, old master," Patrick said, as he kicked the knife off Tomte's hand. "You're no match for _misfortune_."

_Misfortune? _

"You're gone rogue."

"Yes."

"Wait until the Guardians know their precious children will be in danger when –"

"Oh, but they _know_," Patrick said calmly. "In fact, they should be here any minute, now." He pulled the sheath off the knife. "I must hurry."

Patrick kneeled next to Tomte, and placed the knife on the latter's wrist. "Above, or below the wrist?"

_He wants the power of Illusion!_

Tomte spat to the leprechaun's face.

"Very well. Let me _surprise_ you."

A deafening and terrible scream filled the air outside the cabin, echoing over the loud whistling of the wind.

* * *

As quickly as it had gained speed back at the Pole, the Sleigh soon lost height. In a matter of seconds, they were all already on firm ground. They had landed on a clear patch of land, in between what seemed a thick forest. Everything had a thick layer of snow on top. Hiccup held Toothless in his arms, as he sank his feet into deep snow.

"That was nice ride, huh?"

Sandy nodded vigorously, as he hovered off the sleigh.

"Where are we, North?"

"We're in the forest of Kilsbergen."

"Where are the others?" asked Hiccup.

"They should be very close."

But the other three were more than close, for as soon as the Sleigh team started walking towards the forest, they met Bunny, Tooth, and Pitch. The three looked very upset.

"What is wrong, Tooth?"

"Didn't you hear it, mate?"

"Hear what?" asked Jack.

"The scream," let out Tooth with broken voice.

"No, what – what scream?"

"We better hurry," declared Pitch, "before it's _too_ late."

North nodded, and so they followed him through the thick forest. The thick trunks of the trees blocked the violent winds and filtered the snow that passed throw. Twice had Hiccup been very close to falling face first over snow and roots, but Jack had successfully caught him. The group walked for what seemed miles and miles, until they reached an extensive clearing at the very center of Kilsbergen. Feet away, Hiccup could see a lonely cabin at the center of the clearing. Half the structure was destroyed.

Pitch took a sniff.

"The leprechaun was here."

Tooth gasped, while Bunny came to a halt and lowered his shoulders in sorrow. Sandy lowered his gaze.

"No," cried North. "We were _so_ close."

Hiccup turned to see Jack, and he was relieved he looked almost as clueless as Hiccup felt.

They kept walking towards the cabin, but now North had taken out his swords, Bunny was attack-ready with his boomerangs, and Pitch had created bow and arrow out of Nightmare dust.

"I _can't_ believe you kept that stuff, mate!"

"Mind your own business, rabbit."

As they neared the cabin, Hiccup realized the degree of destruction the structure had suffered. Half the house had been blown out, while the other half looked near collapsing on itself. Hiccup put Toothless on the ground, as he was growing impatient. A shiver ran down his spine, and he quickly held his ax firmly in his hands.

"Bunny, Pitch, Sandy, keep perimeter," ordered North. "The rest, follow me."

The big man heavily stepped inside the cabin, while Tooth, Jack, Toothless, and Hiccup followed closely behind. Tooth had created a low blue-ish light using a small coin-like device, creating an eerie atmosphere inside what was left of the cabin. Almost everything lied under a thin sheet of snow mixed with wood shreds.

North signaled for the team to enter an adjacent room, but as soon as he entered, he exclaimed, "O, Bozhe!"

Hiccup felt near vomit when he saw it.

The body of an old man lied on the floor, half naked, covered in blood splatter. The floor beneath him was soaked in blood as well. The man was missing his two hands.

Toothless started hissing at a cupboard.

"Oh, no," Tooth exclaimed softly.

"His hands were – they were chopped off while he was still alive," said Jack.

He held Hiccup's hand firmly in his.

"What makes you say that, Jack?"

"Well, when you cut a deer's paws after it's dead, it doesn't bleed this much," observed Jack. "Also, this wounds were done just recently, or – or the blood would be frozen."

"And it isn't," said North, checking the soles of his boots.

"But – but was it Pat –" Hiccup couldn't say his name, now. "was it the leprechaun?"

"Most likely," said Tooth.

"Uh, North?" Bunny shouted from the outside. "You better come see this!"

The group walked out of the cabin, to the clearing again.

"He's _dead_, isn't he?"

"He is, Pitch," North solemnly said. "What is it, Bunny?"

"Look over there, mate," he said, pointing towards the leftmost side of the clearing.

Long lines of blood were drawn across the plain. Curved lines here and there, and a few straight lines. Apparently, the blizzard had ceased before the lines were drawn.

"Now it's confirmed," Bunny said. "It was _obviously_ the leprechaun."

"He sure is an artist," said Hiccup, trying to deviate the tension.

The drawing represented a gigantic four-leaf clover. Under it, a single word was written in blood: _Unlucky_.


	10. CHAPTER 9

**Alright. Lately, I've started each chapter with an apology. I am about to do that now, yet again. I'm sorry this has taken so long, but here it is! I won't promise any future deadlines or anything anymore, just try and trust that I'll do it as often as possible. I can promise, tho, that it won't take a month anymore! That was finals mixed with tiredness along with a two-week trip to the US and more tiredness, and UGH! But now, I finished this chapter on a plane from San Francisco to Houston, and as soon as I got home I started to edit it and HERE IT IS! **

**Again, thanks to everyone who has followed this story so far, thanks to the amazing writers of those 60 reviews! Believe it or not, these reviews help me cope with my terrible self-esteem (not really, but they sure help me keep writing this!)**

**So, here it is! Enjoy, comment, review! LOVE YOU ALL!**

**Oh! And any ideas you guys have or any suggestions, I promise I'll check them out, and discuss them directly with you before using them! And don't worry, I DO give proper credit!**

* * *

CHAPTER 9

Bunny tapped the snow-covered ground with his paw, and a perfectly round hole opened beneath his feet. This wasn't like the other holes Hiccup had seen the Easter Bunny open; this was a shallow hole, not even five feet tall. No, this wasn't a gateway to a new wonderful world. This was a grave.

North carried the body of Nisse in his arms, walking to the grave at ceremonial pace. Everyone was following the big figure with their eyes, until he arrived to the place. Gently, he placed the old man's body into the grave, as Sandy filled the hole with golden sand as if it was some kind of blanket. Hiccup sang "Amazing grace" in his head.

"Wait, North!" exclaimed Pitch. "Shouldn't we check his pockets? What if we're burying the only lead to Cai Shen?"

"That would be disrespectful, Pitch, I don't thi–"

"I'll do it, then," Pitch said. Hiccup could see a faint smile in his face, as if he was about to enjoy the deed.

North looked at the other Guardians. Sandy simply nodded.

"Alright, do it fast," declared North as he turned around.

Pitch went inside the grave, disturbing the fine veil of golden dream sand Sandy had placed. He checked the old man's pockets, inside his shirt, on the sole of his shoes, even inside the mouth.

With a defeated sigh, he emerged from the grave. "Nothing."

"Bunny, warp this up."

The Easter Bunny tapped the ground a third time, and the grave was closed. Four beautiful snow flowers emanated from the ground. Tooth lit a blue candle and set it on top of the grave. Jack covered the whole thing with snow again.

"So this trip was for nothing, eh?" Bunny asked.

"No, we have to search cabin," argued North. "Sandy and I check studio, Jack search in bedroom, Bunny check the roof, Tooth and Hiccup, go to dining room, and Pitch," he stopped momentarily, "you search basement."

Everyone walked hastily back to the cabin, and once there, they split up.

Finding the dining room was easy, but searching for places to _search _was hard. Especially when you don't _know_ what you're searching for. He looked around the room, and saw nothing special: a couple of cupboards, a table, a lamp, and a single wall plug.

"Uh, okay," Hiccup looked around the room. "Tooth, why don't you search over that small cupboard, and I'll search the big one?"

Tooth nodded. Toothless reappeared suddenly from the kitchen, carrying a dead mouse in his mouth. _At least someone's having fun, _Hiccup thought. But as soon as the cat entered the room, it dropped the mouse and started hissing at the big cupboard Hiccup was about to open. And he had laid a finger on the knob, when…

"North! You better check this!" Bunny's voice sounded muffed by the wooden ceiling.

North came quickly out of the studio as Bunny entered the cabin through the enormous hole on the side. He was carrying a curved metal object, frozen, apparently. Something clicked in Hiccup's head.

"What do you think it is, mate?"

"I don't know, looks like cooking device." North held the deep bowl in his hands.

"Uh, guys?" Hiccup said. "I don't think that's relevant, it's just a –" he took a deep breath, "it's a satellite dish."

Everyone's puzzled faces reminded Hiccup of the enormous cultural gap between him and the Guardians. An adorable Jack being curious over his phone crossed his mind.

"A satellite _dish_?" asked Bunny. "What's that?"

"It's a – it's a, um…" Hiccup was looking for the words to describe it. "It is a… _thing_ used when you want to have many… _options_ while watching the TV."

"Oh, you have one like this at home, don't you, Hic?" Jack asked, looking more closely to the dish. "Wait, so if Tomte had this on the roof, that means there should be a TV here." He paused. "I didn't see one in the bedroom."

"There is no TV in the studio."

"I don't even think there's energy here to plug it!" Tooth exclaimed.

But Hiccup knew that wasn't true. He had seen a plug at the dining room. Just next to the cupboard Toothless was hissing at.

"Guys, I think you should come with me," Hiccup said, suddenly. Jack was the first to jump behind him, following closely. "I think there's something in _there_," he said, pointing at the cupboard. "Toothless was hissing at –" _Wait a second… _"Where's Toothless?"

Sandy walked slowly in front of the cupboard, and with one swift motion, burst it open.

Two incredibly ugly creatures rolled out of the cupboard, making terrible noises and cursing in so many different ways. One of them had Toothless in his bleeding hand.

"Toothless!" Hiccup called. Immediately, Toothless bit the hand of his captor again, and with an agonizing cry, he let him go. "What are these?"

"_These_ are Tomte's loyal servants," North said. "May I introduce you to Rúni and Gautr, Nisee's legendary faithful urisks."

* * *

The two creatures where the ugliest things Jack had seen in his entire life. One had a pale brownish color, while the other had a pale grey color with green spots near the chest. They were breathing heavily and roughly, drinking the water Tooth had served. One still was bleeding from the wounds Toothless had caused.

"So, who's who?" Bunny asked.

The grey one said with a tiny voice, "I'm Gautr, Mr. Bunnymund," while the other one grumpily said, "And obviously I'm Rúni."

"And what were you two doing locked in that cupboard?" Tooth sounded worried.

"Well," Rúni started, "when that _monster_ came blowing half the house off, we sure needed a place to hide! And since they were arguing at the front door, we ran exactly the opposite way."

"That was very cowardly of you!" called North. "Aren't you supposed to protect master at all times?"

"Well, yes," apologized Gautr, "but this thing was horrible, sir, _horrible!_ I have shivers just – just thinking about it!"

Jack felt pity for the things. He remembered the eerie atmosphere Patrick had created at the park. _I don't blame you. He _is _scary._

"What are _you_ Guardians doing here, anyway?" asked Rúni defiantly.

"We came to talk to Tomas." Pitch had entered the room, wiping his hands with a dirty green cloth.

The two goblins gasped. "The Boogeyman!"

"Shut up!" cried Pitch.

"Pitch, I don't –"

"Listen, creatures," Pitch started, as the goblins shrunk back in their seats, "we are looking for the location of one Cai Shen."

"Oh, the General!"

"Precisely," confirmed Pitch with a smile. "Now, either you tell us now, or," Pitch produced a dusty black knife, "you suffer your master's death, as is fashion."

The goblins shrieked, kneeling in front of Pitch. Jack felt disgusted by how much Pitch seemed to enjoy the scene.

"We'll talk, oh, Master of the Night!"

"Yes, we'll tell you _everything_."

"Well," said Pitch, shooting a mocking look at North as he sat on a chair, "you can start."

* * *

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Hiccup answered. "Juts a little… shaken."

Hiccup was sitting on one of the steps that led to the front door, looking at the trees outside. Toothless was licking his paw next to him.

"Yeah," Jack sat down next to him. "I had never seen a mutilated body, either."

"How about a dead one?"

"Dead one?" Jack looked at Hiccup. "Yeah, I'd seen dead people." _Should I ask?_ "How about you?"

"Yeah, just one," Hiccup replied, "my mom."

_Shit…_

"I'm sorry," Jack said, as he hugged his brunette friend.

"It's okay, it was a while ago."

Jack sighed. "I'm sorry I brought you into this, Hic."

"Oh, don't start again, Jack," Hiccup said, not angry or annoyed, but almost disappointed. "There's nothing that could ever happen that would make me turn around, y'know?"

"Yeah," Jack chuckled. "You've proven to be very stubborn!"

Hiccup laughed. "I'm the son of the most stubborn football player _and _coach the Minnesota Vikings ever had! You _should_ expect some stubbornness!"

Jack hugged Hiccup tighter. Jack realized how much Hiccup was putting at risk by being here with him. His father, his studies, his home, even his life.

"Why so silent, now?" Hiccup said smiling, turning to see Jack. "What happened to all that snowballs-and-fun-times attitude?"

Jack laughed brightly. "You don't think I'm being funny enough?" he said, smiling perversely.

"I don't, sir!" Hiccup said, standing up. Toothless sprang to his feet. "Actually, I think you need a very strong dosage of tickles."

"Tickles, huh?" Jack stood up as well. _I'll be damned if this kid manages to tickle _me _first! _"Is that your diagnose, sir?"

"Tis," Hiccup said, as he looked away. _My chance!_ "I think you're not having," Jack moved closer with stealthy steps, "enough," _You're so down, kid! _"FUN!"

In one swift motion, Hiccup had tackled Jack to the snow-covered ground, tickling him beneath his armpits. Jack felt the long-missed bolts of laughter emanate from his body, all the way to his mouth.

But he retaliated, and now Jack was on top of Hiccup, tickling every place Jack knew Hiccup was ticklish in. The two teen's laughter echoed in the clearing, immensely cheering the dull atmosphere that was present just moments ago.

Jack stopped, suddenly, as stared at Hiccup. _God, how much I adore this kid. _Hiccup now bore a stupid grin in his face, his eyes half open due to the brightness of the place, with his hair covered in snowflakes. He opened again his big green eyes, and Jack couldn't take it anymore.

He kissed Hiccup full on the mouth. Every time Jack kissed him, he remembered how long he had been longing for such a moment. Every second without Hiccup was, in Jack's mind, a lost second of his eternal life. Now, he often wondered how could he have lived without Hiccup all these three hundred and something years.

Hiccup lifted his hand to caress Jack's neck and hair, while the other hand pulled Jack closer to him by the hoodie. Jack chuckled, his lips still attached to the brunette, and kissed Hiccup harder. The soft moans coming from Hiccup's mouth made Jack's insides melt.

"I love you, Hiccup," Jack finally said, as he broke apart from Hiccup.

The green-eyed teen opened his eyes wide. For a moment, Jack felt his world crumble. _He doesn't love me back, does he?_ But a smile slowly formed in Hiccup's lips, and his eyes glistened under the reflected light.

"I – I love you too, Jack," he said, smiling like an idiot.

Those words were the best thing Jack had ever heard. They managed to simply erase the background, all the problems they were facing, and all the problems they were about to face, and simply make him focus on Hiccup, his other half, his true one.

Jack managed to giggle softly. "I was afraid you'd say you didn't."

"I was afraid I'd never get the chance to tell you."

"I don't wanna lose you, Hic."

"Then don't, silly!" Hiccup chortled.

Jack smiled even more. _Could you be more adorable?_

He kissed Hiccup's nose, and stood up, gently helping his other half up.

Hiccup didn't let go of Jack's hand, however. They stood like that, hands intertwined, staring at each other, smiling. Jack touched Hiccup's forehead with his own, staring into those lovely green eyes.

"When all this is over, Jack – when we sort this out, we have to go to the beach."

"The beach? I don't think that's –"

"When I was a kid, my father took me to a lovely place in Cali – to the west – where I saw the most beautiful sunset, and," he stopped, and looked up again, "I want to share that with you."

"We'll do so, Hic," Jack kissed Hiccup's forehead, now. "I promise."

Someone cleared his throat nearby. Jack, startled, turned around to find Pitch standing with his arms folded and an evil smirk in his face. _For how long have you been there?_

"Uh, we – we know where Shen is," he said, walking back to the cabin. "You better get ready. It is going to be a long way there."

Jack looked back at Hiccup, whose resolved gaze reassured his insides. When they went inside the dining room, everyone was gathered around a world map displayed on top of the table. An X carved on the map marked the location of their next stop.

* * *

"China?"

"We knew that. What we didn't know was the province the Legendaries were located."

"Which is?"

"The Hunan Province, to the south," repeated Gautr, for the 27th time.

"And how would we know exactly where Shen is?"

"A place called Wulingyuan. Now, I will go arrange backup with the yetis. If something should happen, we will have the yetis battle ready to assist."

North took out a glass snowball as he walked outside. From the window, Hiccup saw him throwing it to the ground, the big portal opening, and a yeti walking out of it. After North giving orders, the yeti went back to a newly opened portal. North stood there, seemingly waiting.

"So," said Hiccup, turning around. "Are we flying to China on the sleigh again?"

"No," said Bunny, while Sandy shook his head. "We're using the tunnels this time, mate. We need to be unpredictable."

Sandy shook his head again, creating a plane from sand that flew on top of his head.

"Oh, I'm not flying again, Sandy!"

The short man simply shrugged.

"I think –" started Tooth.

"I think," Pitch talked louder, "we should go through the tunnels. We'll be an… _easy_… target above the ground. Maybe Patrick has talked the Eagles into the plan and –"

"Don't start with the Eagles, mate!"

"Eagles?" asked Hiccup to Jack.

"They're huge –"

"Alright, everybody! Yetis are ready, and I asked them to take the sleigh with them. Bunny, we rely on you now."

Sandy rolled his eyes.

Everyone walked outside, and soon noticed the two creatures that were hiding just a couple of moments ago in a cupboard were following them. They carried onions in their arms.

"Wait! Wait! Guardians, take these!"

They handed an onion to each of them. They were old, by what Hiccup's nose gathered, but still, he shoved it into his bag.

"These will protect you! You never know when an onion might come in handy."

Since no one said anything, Hiccup walked to the urisks and said, "Thank you. For everything."

Rúni rolled his eyes, while Gautr smiled at the brunette.

As Bunny taped the floor and an enormous hole opened next to him, Gautr came running to North.

"There's something else you should know! Our master's hands, they –"

"Were cut off, I know."

"Yeah, but they – they held our Master's powers."

"Which was?" asked Pitch.

"_Is_, Mr. Boogeyman. His power is Persuasion."

North's massive eyebrows came together in a frown, and he looked back at Pitch.

"We better hurry."

Bunny was the first one to jump into the hole, followed by Tooth, North, and Pitch. Sandy hovered down last.

"Are you coming?" asked Jack.

"Yeah," said Hiccup absently. "Jack? What could," Hiccup sighed," Patrick use Tomas's powers for? Persuasion? Why not go for… strength or the ability to freeze pipelines?"

Jack shrugged. "I don't know, Hic. He's really weird."

Gautr walked closer to the pair. "Believe me, that _monster_ could do terrible things with the power of putting beings to sleep. Persuasion _is_ very dangerous. Be careful."

Hiccup looked back at Jack. The Frost Sprite held Hiccup's hand, and internally counting to three, the pair jumped into the hole.

* * *

"And why should _we_ follow _you_, human?"

"For the last time, I'm _not_ human."

The two giants huffed.

"If I win, giants, there will be no rules, no jurisdictions, no boundaries for you. Imagine eating anything, anywhere. You wouldn't starve, but you'll be fat and ugly as the old legend depict you."

Both giants looked at each other, turned around, mumbled for a while, then one said, "We have agreed that we will _not_ follow you." The other one simply smiled.

Annoyed, Patrick smiled too. "Very well." He rummaged in his sack, and finally found the soft, wet items he was looking for. "You can do this willingly," he took out the hands and held them in front of him, "or not."

Murmuring a few enchantments and old phrases, the hands his hands were holding started to twist and burn, and the giants' faces seemed disturbed, then peaceful again.

With dictatorial tone, the leprechaun said, "Your armies shall follow my orders undoubtedly, without hesitation, without turning back. Do so, or your wives and children shall burn in fires of your own making."

The giants, with unfocused glares, nodded, stood up, and went back into their caves, probably to command their vast and previously unknown armies. Tens of giants will soon be under his command. They would destroy houses, level towns, and ultimately, make children _despair._

His wrath, he must remember, wasn't against the children. They had brought nothing but cherished memories and smiles. No, his wrath was against bribers and thieves, scheming beings that had held him oppressed for years. Beings that would soon suffer as _he_ suffered. But he needed the children to feel angst, to feel despair, to lose all hope, and when their so-loved Santa, and the Easter Bunny, and the Tooth Fairy, don't come to their rescue, they will _all_ turn to him, and praise him as they had all been praised.

Patrick smiled as he shoved the hands back into his sack, and walked towards the raging ocean, standing on top of a cliff. How much power he wielded. The moon appeared as if it was smiling with him. But Patrick smiled even more when he realized the Moon was suffering at the moment as much as they all would. Soon, even the infamous Man in the Moon would recognize his decisions were flawed and stupid. Soon, not even the Man in the Moon would be able to stop him and his army.


	11. CHAPTER 10

**Ta-dah! I had most of this chapter written already (wrote it, as I said, on a flight), so it just needed some tweaks and stuff! ALSO, it was part of a HUGE chapter, but I finally decided to split it in two: this one, and the next one... So expect Ch. 11 either later today, or tomorrow! (most likely tomorrow) Please excuse any mistakes I didn't see! "Oh, I'm sorry, please forgive me. it ****_is_**** a second language."**

**Anyhow, enjoy! Comment, review, follow, favourite, aaaaand sprrrread the word! **

**I LOVE YOU GUYS!**

* * *

CHAPTER 10

Patrick stepped on a skull for the fifth time. Shaking the remains off his boots, he looked around. Trees elevated several feet above his head, casting shadows with moonlight all over the irregular ground. Rocks and bones mixed together on the ground, moonlight making it impossible to distinguish what was what. Feeble fog clouds crawled around patches of forest here and there, their changing locations making the forest an ever changing maze.

Patrick sniffed around. The toxic smell of rotting corpses and rotting leaves made the odor he was tracing hard to grasp. But a thick wave of pixie stench filled his nostrils, and he turned around.

Three small grey winged creatures hovered a few inches in front of Patrick's face, their dirty tiny teeth showing. Rather than interested, they seemed cautious, like seagulls on a dock.

Without looking away, Patrick touched around his sack until he found the soft wet items he was looking for. Carefully, he extracted Nisse's hands out of the sack, and slowly lifted them up. Quickly, the pixies' gaze went unfocused, almost sleepy.

"Take me home," the leprechaun whispered.

The pixies looked confused at each other, then shook their heads, and flew toward a small clearing. At the center of the clearing, a single cut trunk lied peacefully, illuminated by the dizzying moonlight. On the side of the trunk was a hole, big enough for the pixies to enter, but too small for anything _but_ the pixies to go through. Anything smaller would have been food for them.

"Listen," Patrick said, "tell your Queen I require her army. If she denies me that privilege, give her this."

From his coat pocket, the leprechaun produced a tiny arm, with tiny rings and bracelets.

The pixies opened their eyes big, held the chopped off arm with certain disgust, and rushed inside the trunk.

The leprechaun waited.

After a few hours, a single pixie emanated from the hole. With a tiny voice, through guttural sounds, it said, "Our Queen agrees, only if you promise to bring the heads of the Big Four to us."

Patrick smiled. He went to his coat pocket again, and took a sheet of folded paper out. It looked old and dirty.

"Give her this. It's written in her tongue. This contains my orders. Follow them carefully, or else," he stopped short, and extracted the body the chopped off arm belonged to.

It was the body of a pixie prince, dressed in soft and colorful silks, and mutilated as if it was a picture on a medicine book.

The head was cracked open by the mouth.

* * *

"Uh, North?"

"Yeah?"

"You sure we're in the right place?"

"Very sure."

"It looks quite –"

"Big and lonely?"

"Yeah, mate."

The group walked through thick wet vegetation. Hiccup's feet sank in mud every time he stepped down, and his knees got wet every time he touched the leaves. Toothless jumped from rock to rock to avoid the muddy ground. Ahead of them, an enormous pillar of pale brown rock balanced dangerously on a thinner stand, looking as if it would tumble down at any second.

"Where are we, again?"

"We're at the Hunan Province, in the scenic area of Wulingyuan. And that big rock is one of the Five Fingers that make up the Peak of Huangshizhai."

"Huang–what?"

"Huang_shizhai_," said Pitch, as poisonously as he could. "Get an atlas, Jackie."

Hiccup could see Jack's body tense up.

"Easy, tiger," he whispered.

For a couple of feet, all Hiccup could hear was Jack angrily mumbling, "Get an atlas… I'll show him…"

The humid air made Hiccup's hair stick to his face. The armor he wore seemed a lot heavier. His jeans stuck to his legs.

"How far into the forest is Cai Shen?"

"His temple is supposed to be on top of one of these Fingers, hidden by a charm that makes it invisible to humans."

"Invisible?"

"That means you can't see it, Jackie."

"Alright, that was _EN_–"

"Wait, listen!"

Tooth hovered over them, looking up the smaller trees.

"I hear bells."

And despite Hiccup's apparent impediment by being human, he could hear them too.

"Over there!" Tooth exclaimed, pointing to a lower rock pillar next to the biggest one ahead of them.

"HA! There it is!" North almost squished his eyes shut trying to see it. "Right, so… How do we climb?"

Sandy smiled, and dreamsand started to appear and conglomerate around the group. Everyone moved closer together, as a small golden aircraft materialized around them. Hiccup lifted Toothless from the ground and held him in the arms. Adjusting a pair of goggles, sandy produced a stirring wheel at the front of the plane and it softly rose from the ground.

As the leaves and mud on the ground grew smaller, the big rock grew bigger. Hiccup could now see why they called it the Five Finger Peak of Huangshizhai.

Within a couple of minutes, the plane reached the top of the rock, and as soon as it landed, it dissolved into golden dust again.

"Thanks, Sandy," said North, patting the smaller male's back. Sandy simply shrugged and smiled.

At the center of the peak, a black traditional temple rose, with its golden ceiling decorations reflecting the dull white light the cloudy sky allowed. Chimes and bells produced a relaxing tune as the delicate breeze stirred them. Three black birds posed behind the group, looking at them intently.

"Do we knock?" asked Tooth.

"I think he knows we're here," exclaimed Jack, as he gestured toward the door.

Five fully equipped soldiers with covered faces, dressed in black robes, appeared from the temple's door, holding their spears forward. They walked slowly but smoothly. Hiccup thought of ninjas, and hopped China didn't have them too.

One of them spoke with graveled voice and a thick Asian accent.

"General Shen is waiting for you inside."

"He knew –? Aw, 'course he did," sighed Bunny. "Everyone seems to know stuff we don't, right?"

They followed the soldiers inside the temple's dark doors. Inside, the colors mirrored those of the façade, with black wooden walls and gold décor on the ceiling. The floor itself seemed to be carved on black shiny onyx.

As they walked inside the temple, Jack held Hiccup's hand tightly. Hiccup cursed the weather of the place for making his hands sweaty. As he turned to see Jack, the white-haired teen looked at him back, smiled, and winked. Then went to kiss his cheek.

"Don't worry, kiddo. We'll be fine," he whispered.

"I'm not _worried_," said Hiccup just as low. "I'm… precautious."

Jack chuckled. "I would've kept that secret until we hit the bedroom, Hic!"

"What –? No, I meant pre_cau_–"

"GUARDIANS!"

The loud cry made Hiccup jump.

A dark-haired middle-aged Chinese man appeared from one of the hall's many side doors. He wore black-and-gold silk robes, walking barefooted towards the group.

"It is a real pleasure to see you here," Shen said, extending his arms in a warm salute.

"is it?" whispered Bunny confused.

These_ are the beings that want the Guardians dead?_

"Shen! Pleasure is all ours!" said North, obviously taken aback, as he stepped forward and held Shen in a rib-crashing embrace. "We've come a long way to see you!"

"Oh, so I've heard! My Black Bazas have followed you above the ground since you hit the barrier of China. Yes, Bunnymund, they _even_ smell your tunnels!"

"Aw, that's great!" said Bunny grumpily. "It's nice to know we're not even safe underground."

Shen ignored the quip, and turned to see Tooth.

"Oh, Toothiana, you look as," he held her hand and kissed it, "_beautiful_ as the last time I saw you."

Tooth smiled nervously, and said, "Aw, thank you Cai – I mean, Shen."

Shen bowed, and turned to see Sandy.

"Sanderson, pleasure to see you," he said, as he bowed again. Sandy produced a hat above his head, and lifted it.

"And I've heard you Guardians are bigger by one," he said, addressing Jack now. "Jack Frost, it is a pleasure meeting you."

Jack tried to smile as he shook the hand Shen offered. "Uh, pleasure's mine."

Shen bowed again, and then lifted his gaze. His kind face didn't change as he turned to see Pitch.

"Some questions are better left unanswered, and that one of why are you with them is one of them," Shen said softly, offering a hand to Pitch. The latter shook it quickly.

"Ah!" he walked towards Hiccup now. "And who is this? Is he by any chance the Autumn Guardian?"

Shen looked into Hiccup's eyes intensely. And though he asked, "who is this?" Hiccup had the strangest feeling that Shen already knew who and what he was.

North chuckled. "This, Shen, is Hiccup. He's Jack's… friend."

Shen's face told Hiccup he knew what North's hesitation hid.

"Of course," he said, finally. "Very nice to meet you," he said, as he bowed. Hiccup mimicked the gesture.

"And I see you brought your pet," he said, as he kneeled and went to pet Toothless. The black cat simply purred under the soft touch.

"Now," Shen clapped ceremoniously, "shall we eat?"

* * *

Jack filled his mouth with the remaining stir-fried chicken and the last of the white rice, and sat back on his bum, chewing the delicious meal away. He looked around.

His staff, along with most possessions, lied reclined to a wall. Hiccup looked just as full as he was, though his plate was half empty. When Hiccup noticed Jack was looking at him, he turned and smiled, rubbing his flat belly. Jack chuckled and took a sip of his tea. He had never cared for tea, but boy, that tea was good.

Everyone finished their meals in silence, sitting on the floor. Everyone, except for North, who sighed in delight every time he got a mouthful of chicken or rice in his mouth, eyes closed in pleasure. Toothless finished licking his plate of boiled fish near the fireplace.

"I keep saying it," Hiccup started, "I just _love_ Chinese."

"I am glad the food was of your liking," Shen said, sipping his tea. "Would you care to meet the chef?"

"Oh, I sure would love to!" Tooth let out.

"Me too," said Bunny, "I wanna know how he cooked these carrots." Noticing everyone looked at him, he added, "For intellectual purposes."

Shen laughed. "He'll be flattered if you ask, Bunnymund! Let me go for him. You finish your plates. He'll be twice as happy if he sees clean plates."

Shen stood up, and went through the same golden door from which the many servants came with platefuls of food.

"I wonder if the decorations are real gold," said Hiccup.

"'Course they are, mate! He's the God of Wealth, isn't he?"

"The God of Wealth?"

"That's how the locals know him," explained Bunny. "Shen gives out blessings of wealth to those who invoke him during the Chinese New Year."

Hiccup nodded and remained silent for a while. Then he said, "I've got another question. How come I could see the Temple? How come the _enchantment_ didn't work on me? How come I could even see the leprechaun?"

North smiled wisely, and was about to answer, when soon realized he didn't know why. He simply shrugged. Tooth turned to see Bunny, both just as puzzled.

"It's a rare happening, Hiccup Haddock the Third."

Everyone turned to see the old and small Chinese man who came back to the room with Shen. He seemed very feeble, walking with the help of a cane, with a slouched back and slow steps. His head was the feature that caught jack's attention the most. It was big, and domed.

The elder continued in a soft voice, "Sometimes, mortals, like yourself, are able to pierce through our enchantments and magical barriers. Their senses are enhanced and more capable than most humans'."

"May I introduce you to the Star of Longevity, and of course, our beloved chef, Shou."

Shou bowed and smiled at the guests. "I am very happy you liked my food. I have been cooking it for hundreds of years and it is _still_ delicious."

"It sure is," said North. "Thank you very much, Shou."

"No problem," Shou bowed once more.

"It won't make the human immortal, will it?" Pitch's disdain in his voice made everyone turn and look at him. "The food, I mean."

Shou smiled kindly at Pitch. "I see you've heard the stories. The answer, however, is no. There is no Elixir of _Life_ in the food. It will improve his health, though. I can see his health haven't been the same since Sweden."

Jack turned to Hiccup. "Did you feel ill, Hic?"

"Uh, I – Yeah, a little, I mean – maybe cold, I don't really –"

"Wait, Sweden?" asked Shen. "Have you visited my good friend Nisse?"

Everyone remained silent. Shen's expression changed from curiosity to concern.

North was the first to speak. "Shen, I'm really sorry. Tom, he was –"

"He was murdered," Shou finished almost absentmindedly, "by Patrick mac T-áhd, the leprechaun."

Shen's face quickly turned to a sober grief. He looked down, murmured something with his eyes closed, and said, "Terrible news. I – I see now why you've come."

"We need the help of your people, Shen," said North. "We have come to ask –"

"To ask for the help of Fu."

It wasn't Shou the one who finished North's sentence this time. A new character had appeared at the door that gave in to the hall. It was a dark-haired man with a goatee. He looked very old, but not as old as Shou. Jack couldn't help but think he looked a little creepier, too.

"Guardians – and guests – this is Lu, the Star of Prosperity. He is in charge of the security inside the temple. He's the immediate general of the troops, here."

"Of course," Lu's deep voice reverberated around the room, "Shen is the ultimate General."

Having said that, Lu bowed to Shen, who returned the gesture.

"Listen," Tooth started, "Patrick has perverted his power using very _very_ dark magic," Pitch coughed, "and became a being of _bad_ luck instead of good. And to counteract bad luck we need –"

"We need fortune," finished Pitch. "And who's better with fortune than the Chinese Deity of good Fortune, the Fu star."

"You are right, Pitch Black," confirmed Shou. "Fu is a master of his own powers, and is worthy of all the worship he receives for it. He is indeed the right one to help you."

North clapped happily. "I _knew _coming here was good idea! Now," he looked around, as if a third character had appeared suddenly, "where is Fu."

The two stars looked at each other. "He no longer resides in this Temple."

North's mouth fell open.

"He doesn't live here anymore? Crikey, where does he live now?"

"We," Shou paused. "We do not know."

_Oh, you've got to be kidding me!_

"Wait, you don't know where your brother lives?" Jack felt his heart racing.

"We do not," answered Lu.

"Oh, but this is beautiful," Pitch sighed. "We travel thousands of miles, we find a murdered legendary creature, we travel some more miles, just to find a dead end!"

"Take it easy, Pitch," Shen spoke calmly. "I can send one of my Black Bazas to find this out. Don't worry!" He exclaimed in Chinese, to which Lu answered similarly, and both left the room.

Shou stood there, calmly. He smiled at everyone.

"Uh, Mr. – Mr. Shou, sir? I – I have some more questions," Hiccup walked towards the Star. Jack decided to join them.

"Tell me, Hiccup Haddock the Third."

"Uh, I'm still confused. So I can see these magical creatures and beings and all that. Can you tell me – Do you know _when_ did I gain the power? Did I _eat_ a nuclear banana, or maybe stepped on a magical bug? _Also_, is there a way I could _lose_ this power?"

Shou laughed in his tiny weak voice. "No nuclear bananas or magical bugs, dear child! No, this is something more… boring. There is a special gen, you see, that most humans don't get to develop. But those who do, are able to do what _you_ can do."

"So, it's like puberty or something?"

Shou laughed again. "Yes, something like puberty."

Jack laughed softly too, remembering how he had teased Hiccup before about being _precocious_.

Shou stopped laughing slowly, then looked deep into Hiccup's eyes. "Hiccup Haddock the Third, you are destined to do great things. I can _see_ it. I can also see you are loved by many people," almost imperceptibly, Shou turned to see Jack, then went back to Hiccup. "But I also see loss and pain," Hiccup's face lost its light, and Jack's insides twisted. "Be brave, Hiccup Haddock the Third."

Having said that, the old man sat laboriously on the ground next to the table, and started to drink tea from an abandoned cup.

Jack placed both his arms around Hiccup's waist. "Don't worry, Hic. I'm here, and I won't let anything happen to you."

Hiccup looked up at Jack. "It's not me whom I'm worried about, Jack."

Jack was about to reply, when Shen entered back in the room. Maybe it was Jack's imagination, but Shen looked a lot paler and sweatier.

"My birds have found the lost Star," he said theatrically. "He lives near the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul."

North stood up. "And how will we find him?"

"Trust me," Shen said, "you'll find him. But you better leave now, because it is almost dawn, here. I believe you can still get there before sunset if you leave now."

"You're right," North picked his hat from the mantelpiece over the fireplace. "We better leave, Guardians."

"Have you thought of how will you get there?"

"Yeah, we're using the tunnels," said Bunny, as he fastened his belt around his chest.

* * *

"Come on, let's go!" Bunny yelled, tapping the ground beneath his feet, opening a perfectly round hole just next to him.

"We're coming," said Tooth, carrying a blade with her.

"Is that new, Tooth?" asked Jack.

"Yeah, it was a – ugh – gift from Lu. It's supposed to be light in combat."

"Sweet!" said Hiccup, as he checked the handle.

"Uh, Hic?" Hiccup felt Jack's gentle pat on his shoulder. He turned to see the blue-eyed teen. "I'll be right back, 'k? Just – just wait here!" he said as he walked backwards towards a waving Shou.

"Alright," said Hiccup to himself. "Come, buddy."

Hiccup walked towards Bunny, followed closely by Toothless. When he was just next to the hole, Hiccup turned to see Jack. He was talking very intently with Shou. He pointed at Hiccup, and Shou nodded, smiling. Jack bowed many times as he walked back, then ran the last couple of feet.

"What was that all about?" asked Hiccup, feeling nervous.

"Nothing," said Jack, looking a hundred times happier than he usually was. "Come on, Hic, let's go!"

_Or don't tell me, that's fine too._

Jack held Hiccup's hand, looked at him with a smile, then said, "Ready?"

"Ready," answered Hiccup. "Come on, Toothless!"

Used to traveling through the tunnels, Toothless ran to the hole and jumped.

"_That's_ energy," said Hiccup.

"Ok, now it's us," said Jack. "Alright, one, two – WAIT!"

"What?" yelled Hiccup.

"Kiss me!"

Hiccup laughed, and yelled, "Alright!"

His lips locked with Jack's, his hand running through his hair, his body closer to the Frost Sprite. With a loud smack, Jack broke off.

"Better," he said winking, then held on to Hiccup tightly. Taking one last look at the beautiful scenery, both teens jumped.

* * *

"I hope they find Fu," said Shou, softly.

"I hope so too," replied Shen, watching as the last two members of the company jumped into the hole, which closed shut after them, leaving two bright yellow flowers behind.

"Where is Lu?"

"Inside, preparing desert."

"Oh, no! He'll burn the whole kitchen!"

Shou went running inside the Temple, as fast as his old body managed. The bang of the door closing shut reassured Shen he was alone."

"I hope you know what you're doing."

An answer came next to him. "Did you send them there?"

"They're on their way to Istanbul."

"To the market?"

"Yes," Shen answered bitterly.

"Very good, Shen. It seems the General _can_ take an order."

Shen turned to see the ugly face of the leprechaun. A black coat covered his body.

"I did what you wanted me to do. I told you what you needed to know about the Stars."

"You did, alright!"

Shen took a deep breath. "I did as you asked. I did as I promised. Now you do as you did," Shen closed his eyes and focused on his voice. "Now release my family."

Patrick laughed. "They're inside, already. They're playing with their new toys, Shen. Don't worry," the leprechaun reaffirmed, "I'm a man of my word."

Shen's body relaxed, and he exhaled relieved. "Thank you."

"No, Shen," the leprechaun said as he walked towards the border of the cliff, "thank _you_," he said, just before jumping.

Sweating, Cai Shen went back to the Temple, making a mental note to burn the black toys his children will be playing with when he opened their room.


	12. CHAPTER 11

**Hello, everyone! Here's the latest chapter! I really had a lot of fun writing it, although I kinda cried a bit while doing it, so... yeah... this is one of my fav chapters... I had written part of it since waaaaaaaay before this chapter... I think I was thinking about this chapter since chapter.. 3-4? Don't really remember, I just know I've had some of it for some time. Also, part of this was meant to be attached to the previous chapter, but then it would've been a GIGANTIC chapter, and to keep uniformity, I split it. **

**ALSO! I say this so you can keep your eyes open, I make a small cameo here! Yeap, the writer appears in his story (that was some of the stuff I had written waaay way back!). Also there's a special guest! :3 Cute scene, really!**

**My aunt also appears. She has a few lines... **

**Anyhow, have fun reading! It isn't a ****_funny_**** chapter (it's full of angst!) but still... try to!**

**Enjoy, comment, review, favourite, follow, and spread the word!**

**I LOVE YOU GUYS! 33333**

* * *

CHAPTER 11

The sun was setting just behind the beautiful temples of Istanbul, creating blazing red skies and pitch-black shadows. Lights started to illuminated the colorful city, creating intricate patterns hues of white, green, and blue through alleys and streets.

The group walked through a crowded alley, where smells, sounds, and textures shocked Jack's senses. He held Hiccup's hand. A tightening of his grip remembered Jack that he wasn't dealing with some 10-year-old here. He was dealing with a fierce Viking, a brave little football player. Man, Hiccup could be tough.

"Guardians, we must find the market. Hiccup!"

"Yeap?"

"Could you look for a map of sorts or – or something like that? I don't – I don't think a six-foot-tall rabbit will inspire much confidence, mate."

Hiccup smiled. "You're right about that. Just – Just let me – uh, ma'am?"

An elderly lady sitting on a stool next to him held her purse tightly, looking suspiciously at Hiccup.

"Uh, do you – ehem – Do you have a map?" Hiccup made a square in the air with his fingers. "A map of the city?" he gestured everything with his arms.

The lady simply shrank back in her stool.

"I guess you don't," Hiccup sighed.

Jack laughed softly, looking around. He was trying to spot tourists, who would most likely speak English and carry a map with them. Finally, he found an odd chubby man with knee-high socks and sandals and a woman with her nose covered in white cream, both trying to buy a carpet.

"Hey, Hic, go ask _them_," Jack gestured towards the couple. "I'm sure they carry a map. Or at least know how to get to the market."

Hiccup nodded firmly, and went to the tourists. Once they saw him, they laughed, pointing at Hiccup's outfit, the woman pinching his cheeks. Jack laughed. They seemed to have a map with them, and kindly gave it to Hiccup, along with a bottle of water and some gum. Hiccup made his way back to the group.

"Nailed it!" he paused. "Okay, now, let's see. Um, so this is – okay, then there's – oh! Guys? The Grand Bazaar is just behind this big – wall – thing."

"Perfect!" North let out. "Okay, Guardians. What you say if we split up? Pitch, Sandy, Tooth, you go to north end of market. Bunny, Jack, Hiccup, and I – oh, and Toothless – we take south. We meet at mid-point."

Tooth nodded fiercely, and quickly moved up in the air. Sandy pulled Pitch close and both rose above the ground on a huge golden eagle.

"Alright, let's move," said North, making his way through the crowded alley. Bunny, Hiccup, Toothless, and Jack followed closely.

Finally, North found a door that let to the Bazaar. He tried it, but found it locked, then looking around, kicked it open. The other side of the alley didn't look any different than the one they were in. Crowds, yelling, animal sounds, smells.

_I've no idea how we will find someone in this mess._

"Follow me!" said North.

He led him into a deserted alley, filled with broken stools and old carpets.

"Alright, if _we_ split up, it will be impossible to find our way back. So, we better look together. We will walk through the streets, as much as we can. Shen said we would _know _when we find him."

"Wait... Jack!" Hiccup spoke so low everyone turned to see him.

"What is it?"

It hadn't been until then that Jack realized there was an insidious rustling all around the alley. Wind shook the plastic roofs of old stands and pushed broken plastic chairs through the floor. Dead leaves and dust rose from the ground following the wind, making curious patterns and shapes. The low whistling made Jack's neck hair stand. Toothless hissed, dangerously arching its back.

"Guardians," commanded North, "eyes open." He took out his twin blades. Bunny followed, boomerang up high and waiting. Jack took a step in front of Hiccup, holding his staff firmly in his hands, but the hazel-haired teen stepped forward as well, fiercely clenching his small ax.

"Shouldn't we be calling the rest, North?" asked Bunny.

"We have no time," North walked towards one of the metal doors at one of the sides of the market and kicked it open. "We have better chance up the roof," he said, once he looked inside.

"Agreed, mate."

They went up a set of very narrow steps inside a dark room, until they reached the market's roof. The sun was almost invisible, now. The red hues turned blue throughout the skyline. The strange wind inside the market seemed to have followed them up there.

"What now?"

"We said we would reunite at the center... so we should go there," North pointed to a big building several feet away.

"Okay, let's go. Jack, why don't —"

But a sudden violent rush of air that seemed to push them off the roof stopped him.

"Blimey! What the — that isn't wind! North?"

"I think it isn't, Bunny," North seemed very serious now. "Witchcraft."

There was another rush of wind, this time carrying all sorts of leaves, dust, and dirt with it. Jack closed his eyes and covered his face, and when he opened them, a solitary figure was standing some yards away from the Guardians.

"Uh, North?"

"I see it. Everyone behind me!"

The figure walked closer now. It wore a black cape with matching hood, and held a slow but steady pace towards them. When he was just a few feet away, he pulled back his hood. Jack's stomach twirled.

"Patrick! You treacherous little mongoose! What gives you the —" Another rush of wind pushed a Bunny back, but as he regained balance, Jack noticed a deep gash below his right eye.

"Easy, Guardians," Patrick's voice was almost... merciful. "I mean no harm —"

"No harm, my big furry arse!"

"— to the children," he finished. "You, however, have stood on top of both the children and other mythical creatures for far too long. You have... forgotten the true meaning of Guarding. It is my duty, then, to stop you; to regain control and give it to more... suitable beings."

"We have forgotten meaning of Guarding? Who is the one who will leave children without Christmas?"

"Or Easter!"

"Banal holidays, created to bribe, manipulate, and bring children into materialistic beings."

"Then why doesn't the Man in the Moon replace us?" Jack felt his legs almost give away as he said that.

The mention of Man in Moon seemed to enrage the leprechaun.

"I never excluded him from _punishment_, ol' bugger! He is just as guilty as you are."

"Guilty?" yelled Bunny. "What are we –"

"Jack?" Hiccup whispered as softly as he could. "Where's Toothless?"

Jack immediately searched the black cat with his eyes, but he couldn't find him. He looked at Hiccup and shrugged.

"You plan fighting Manny? HA! Good luck with that!"

Patrick smiled at the mention of _luck_. "Luck. Did you really think Fu was here? Did you really think the old fool would stop me?"

"Wait, he's – he's not _here_?"

Patrick laughed. "No. No, he's not. He's probably sunbathing at a beach in Monterey, California… United States."

"But – Shen, he –"

"It's amazing what a couple of cages and some kids can do to a father, isn't it?"

North grunted in rage, tightening the grip on his blades.

"Anyhow, Shen's under control. You, however, are not. And I MUST stop you, once and for all."

"Oh, yeah? You and WHAT army, mate?"

Patrick smiled, revealing dirty, yellow, and sharp teeth. "THIS army."

The ground beneath Jack's feet started to tremble. Big pieces of brick and roof started to fall down, destroying stands and kiosks from the market. Suddenly, wholes started to open in the roof, and hundreds of small grey fairy-like beings emanated from the wholes like bees from a hive. Cries and screams could be heard throughout the market.

"Meet my new minions!" The fairies revolved around Patrick, as he opened his arms wide. "Pixies! Brought to you from the Aokigahara Forest!"

"No…"

"Yes, North! I have visited them."

North took a step back in awe.

"And guess what? They were so into the idea, they let me have these!" he gestured towards the pixies.

"In return of what, mate? The children?"

"No," Patrick said softly, looking down. Finally, he merely moved his eyes up. "Your heads."

As soon as he said that, the pixies launched in a coordinated attack towards the Guardians. Jack felt hundreds of small bites and scratches before he was able to realize he was being attacked. He put a foot forward and shot a freezing gush towards a flock of pixies. Immediately, the fell hard on the ground, rolling off the roof. But he was still being attacked.

Jack then kicked the floor hard and flew over the Grand Bazaar as he was followed by countless pixies. As he saw them, he rapidly gained speed and height, soaring vertically into colder air. When he noticed the great gap between him and his chasers, he turned around and shot a powerful burst of freezing air towards the pixies. Most of them fell straight to the ground, frozen, but some kept on with the chase.

Jack expertly rushed towards the remaining pixies, and used his staff as a bat, hitting as hard as he could. One of the pixies tried to scratch his face, but he caught it in midair and kicked it. As the pixies dissipated, he looked down to his companions. Bunny was jumping from building to building, taking the pixies down with his flying boomerang, while North swooshed his blades against the pixies. Jack looked for Hiccup, descending slowly, but couldn't find him.

Panic drilling into his body, Jack flew hastily down, searching for the brunette over rooftops and catwalks. Finally, he saw him, swinging his axe violently against the incoming pixies. Jack flew straight to him, freezing pixies as he landed. He stood back-to-back with Hiccup, each taking pixies down on one side.

"You're pretty — ugh! — good at this, Hic!"

"Yeah it's my — PASSION! — to kill — THESE! — things!"

"I can totally — WATCH OUT! — see that!"

As Jack stepped on the last of the pixies, he caught a glimpse of Bunny being swarmed by a flock of the gray beings. He saw North a few feet away from Bunny, throwing one of his snowballs as he ran, opening a void. He entered in it, and appeared behind the chasing flock, slashing most of it, laughing out loud. Where's Patrick?

"Hic, stay here," he said as he rose from the ground into the air to have a bird's eye view of the market. Night had fallen now, and low lights illuminated the alleys in the market. He searched for Patrick around alleys and rooftops, but found nothing.

But as he turned to see Hiccup battling a small group of pixies, his heart fell to his feet. Patrick walked slowly behind Hiccup, a dark dagger in his hand.

"NO!" yelled Jack as he rushed towards the leprechaun. But he was too close to Hiccup. Jack knew he wasn't going to make it. "DAMN IT, NO! HICCUP!"

Jack saw the leprechaun raise his arm, ready to strike. Hiccup was oblivious if the danger, struggling with tens of pixies. Jack's eyes were filling with tears, when he saw a black net catch the leprechaun and throw him off the roof. Hiccup turned just in time to see Pitch Black fall gracefully on the catwalk, winking at him.

Sandy created similar nets to catch the remaining pixies, while Tooth's own Baby Teeth saved Bunny from being engulfed in pixies.

Jack flew straight down, into the alley Patrick fell into. As he landed, he felt more aware than ever. He held his staff firmly in his hands, as he walked towards the place the leprechaun fell. But all he found was the remaining dust from Pitch's net.

"Damn it! That little shit!"

A soft noise behind him made Jack turn in his spot. It was Toothless, hissing at Pitch's sand.

"Where were you ten minutes ago?"

"He went to call us," Pitch said behind him. Once more, Jack turned so quickly he felt dizzy. "We were waiting at the temple when we saw him. That's why we came, Jackie."

"Don't call me that," Jack started, but let it go. "Thanks for rescuing Hic — rescuing us."

"My _pleasure_," Pitch hissed.

"HELP!" North screamed from the rooftop.

Jack kicked the ground, and soared into the air as he held Pitch by his coat. Both landed on the roof, again. North was now inside a black cage, one that shrank and morphed to fit perfectly around North.

"What the –"

Jack saw Tooth fly towards the cage. As she got close, part of the cage morphed and engulfed her, trapping both Guardians inside.

"NO!" Jack ran towards the cage, but Pitch held him close with both arms.

"Don't be stupid! If you go, it'll swallow you too!"

But the cage started moving, carrying its occupants with it. Ten elongated spider legs morphed from the cage, and quickly rushed towards its next target. Bunny tried to escape, but the cage was faster. As soon as the three Guardians were inside, the cage stopped. Then, it started rushing towards Pitch and Jack.

Horrified, Jack held Pitch by a sleeve and kicked the ground once more. He flew away from the cage, trying to find Hiccup on the ground. But as soon as he had located the brunette, running away from the cage with Toothless, he felt a pull as Pitch screamed.

"NO! Damn it, just – Ugh!"

A long black lasso had emanated from the ever-morphing cage and latched itself onto Pitch's leg, pulling both him and Jack towards it.

"DAMN IT! Let me go! Save – your – SELF!"

"NO! I – I won't –!"

"Let me – GO! Save the child!"

Finally, Jack couldn't hold Pitch's arm anymore. The lasso pulled Pitch into its contents. The cage seemed to be closing, swallowing the trapped victims into its blackness. Jack let out a scream of fury, and plunged downwards to avoid the incoming blow of the lasso.

He froze the lasso as it came towards him, but it morphed so quickly soon it was covered in razor-sharp bits of ice as it lunged against him again.

Jack dropped once more, and looked for Hiccup again. He was far away from the cage. Then he looked for Patrick, as he dove once more to avoid a smash. He found him, caressing the cage, looking triumphant.

Thinking fast, Jack held his staff firmly in his hands and waited for the next strike. When the lasso plunged forward, Jack froze it with a scream. But didn't stop there. He tried to freeze it as much as he could. Ice crawled down the lasso, and reached the cage. Soon, the black cage looked white as it froze all over. But it didn't break.

Patrick laughed like a maniac. "You can't stop it, Jack! No one can!"

With tears in his eyes, Jack screamed once more. A second, more powerful wave of frost managed to freeze completely the cage, sticking it to the roof. The frost crawled down the cage's legs into the market, through stands and stools. A scream of pain told Jack even the leprechaun was caught in the ice. But he knew the victory would be short-lived. The cage started moving again.

Flying as fast as he could, he rocketed towards Hiccup. He was running with Toothless in his arms, now. _Perfect_. Without stopping, he grabbed Hiccup by the arms, and soared towards the nearest building, crashing inside through glass and curtains.

They fell on top of a carpets stand, the soft rugs cushioning their drop. Sirens of police cars and ambulances could be heard over the roar of screams outside the building.

Jack sprang to his feet, helping Hiccup up. Toothless shook the dust off his fur.

"Jack, we need to move out! NOW! Or else it's gonna catch us!"

"I – I know, but – but how are we gonna –"

"How far can you fly carrying both of us?"

"I – I don't know," Jack felt numb. "A few miles, but that's it!"

"Damn," Hiccup looked around. "Wait – What if we get into a car?"

"A _car_?"

"That's the least place the leprechaun would expect us to be, I guess."

"Uh, I – I don't know, but – Fine, that's the best we got."

"Alright, let's go."

Hiccup held Jack's hand and followed Toothless out of the market, through panicking crowds, police officers, and firefighters. Once out on the street, Hiccup raised his hand to an incoming white car. The car stopped, looking at them weird.

"Uh – English?" Hiccup asked to the driver, raising his voice over the sirens.

"Yes," said the man.

"Great!" Hiccup exclaimed, as he jumped inside the car. Toothless followed, and so did Jack. He felt confused. His hands were shaking. His mouth was dry. But he turned and saw the much younger teen beside him. And he looked so confident, so brave. _Man up, Jack. You're three hundred years old_.

"Airport," Hiccup told the driver, and this one sped up.

They rushed through the busy streets, through curious people and scared old ladies. The city had become a mess, fumes rising from the Grand Bazaar behind them.

After an hour, they reached a grey glass-and-concrete building. Hiccup paid the driver and rushed inside the building. Jack lifted Toothless in his arms and went beside him.

"Alright, what now?"

"We need to find Fu. Patrick said he was in California, but where –"

"Monterey," Jack said. "I remember because I have a friend, there."

"A friend? Do you know where he lives?"

"Yes," Jack said, not feeling very convinced himself.

"Fine. Now, I'm underage and don't have my passport with me, so that's a problem. But maybe my dad can help us get into a flight to California. Uh," he looked around the place.

So did Jack.

The place was filled with hundreds of people. Most weren't from Istanbul. Jack spotted Russians, Americans, British, South African, South American, Asian. _So _this_ is what an airport looks like._

"There! Let me get local money, and I'll make a call. You and Toothless wait – you guys wait over _there,_" Hiccup pointed to a group of metal seats with black leather cushions.

"Okay, be carfeful, Hic," Jack said, as he walked towards the seats, carrying Toothless in his arms. As he sat, he realized just how tired he was. Thinking he could only rest his eyes, he closed them shut, and fell asleep.

* * *

"Jack? Jack, wake up. Jack, we got a flight to catch!"

Hiccup shook Jack gently. He had his mouth open, and was snoring loudly. Toothless was sleeping in his lap. Hiccup realized how late it was, and that so many trips had him dead. They still had a few hours until the flight started boarding, so Hiccup decided to let him sleep. He sat beside the white-haired teen, and rested his head on Jack's shoulder.

Hiccup's body craved for some sleep, but he quickly shook the thought off. He was the only one of the group who actually knew how traveling by airplane worked. Without him, the group was doomed.

Hiccup's father managed to play on some long-lost friendships and pull certain strings to manage a last-minute flight from Istanbul to San Francisco with a stop in Frankfurt. Overall, it would take about twenty hours to get there, which meant a complete day wasted. Hiccup realized, however, that if the airport was still in one piece, it meant Patrick didn't know where they where yet.

Stoic had _also_ managed to get the airline agree with having Hiccup take Toothless on his lap, despite rules against it. They would travel in first class, as close to the cockpit as possible. The name Stoic the Vast, it seemed, still had its weight.

* * *

"So_ this_ is how you guys travel, huh?"

Jack looked like a kid in an M&M's store. He looked curiously at every single detail in the airplane. A middle-aged man in a business suit looked at Jack and rolled his eyes.

"Yeap, this is how we travel. Pretty cool, huh?"

"_Pretty_ cool."

"Okay, these are our seats. Toothless, come on, buddy!"

As Hiccup sat next to the window, Toothless jumped on his lap. A woman walking towards the seat behind them looked horrified at the black cat. She turned around and left the plane.

"Jack, you sit next to me." Hiccup patted the blue seat.

"Right," Jack said as he sat. "So, you said they gave food in these things?"

"Yeah, but not until we're up in the air. Until then, everyone – and I mean _everyone_, Jack – must remain in their seats."

"Don't worry, Hic," Jack smiled. "I'll do my best to behave." Having said that, he winked. Hiccup couldn't be more confused.

Once boarding was over, the plane taxied over to Lane 4, according to the captain, and positioned itself ready for takeoff.

Once the plane started speeding, Jack held tightly to the armrests.

"You okay there, big boy?"

"Yeah, it's just – oh boy! – Is this supposed to happen?"

"Yeah, don't worry, Jack. It's alright."

Hiccup managed to slip his hand in Jack's, and tried to caress him under his tight grip. Soon as the _ugly_ part of takeoff was over, his grip loosened.

The flight from Istanbul to Frankfurt would take around three hours. Hiccup undid a bit his seatbelt and relaxed. He allowed himself to sleep.

When he woke up, he found Jack laughing with the young flight attendant serving the food. It seemed he told a joke that still had her laughing. Hiccup smiled. Soon, the flight attendant reached their seats.

"For you sir?"

"I'd like a coke, please."

"Coke, and," she stopped at Jack, "your beer, right?" She giggled.

"Damn right!"

She winked at them. "I'll be right back."

As soon as she left, Hiccup asked, "What was all that about?"

"She couldn't believe I'm Jack Frost," Jack sounded amused.

"Yeah, maybe it isn't all that smart that you're telling people you're Jack _Frost_."

"Oh, right," Jack faked a serious gaze. "We should device a cover."

"Right. How about… Chris?"

"Chris?"

"Chris," Hiccup said, mockingly. "Chris P –"

"Your coke, sir," the flight attendant poured the beverage in Hiccup's glass, "and your beer, um…"

"She's waiting for a name," Hiccup whispered as low as he could.

"Chris," Jack said. "You can call me Chris."

"Chris," she said, smiling even brighter. "Nice to meet you, Chris."

"Nice to meet you, Dominique."

Dominique winked at Jack once he said her name, and left to attend other passengers.

Hiccup stared at Jack.

"What?"

"What was all that about?"

"I – Hey, she came at me first, I –"

"I'm not jealous! I'm just… amused!"

"Look, you're the _only_ one for me, 'k?"

Having said that, Jack kissed Hiccup. It was a quite passionate kiss, Hiccup noticed. Once they broke off, Hiccup realized half the cabin was staring at them.

Trying to act cool, Hiccup said, "Uh, beer, Jack?"

Jack winked. "Drinking age in Europe rocks, man!"

Hiccup laughed. Toothless stirred in his lap.

When Dominique and a male assistant delivered the food, Hiccup realized she _also_ saw Jack and Hiccup's kiss.

The meat was steel-cold. And so was her treatment towards them.

* * *

Once they arrived at San Francisco International Airport, hiccup soon realized the events in Istanbul had gone international. CNN was playing footage of the black morphing cage taken with a cellphone beneath the rooftop. Hiccup decided to call his dad.

Stoic told Hiccup they were to take a town car that would take them from San Francisco to Monterey, which was just a few hours from there. Once there, they would contact a lovely young lady by the name of Juliet, the owner of a high-ranking luxury house management, who would give them the keys to a friend of Stoic's house near the beach. The house remained unrented most of the year, so it would be the perfect place to stay.

When they were at Juliet's office, which was on Dolores St., Hiccup decided to start digging the location of Fu. Juliet's family happened to be visiting her, so the local was a bit crowded with Juliet's mother, her cousin, his wife, and his three children. The oldest, a tall black-haired teen with glasses, was playing with Toothless.

"Uh, sorry, ma'am?"

"Oh, call me Juliet," she said, without lifting her fingers off the keyboard.

"Juliet – sorry – we're looking for a – a certain Chinese man. His name – he has something to do with the Fu Star, or _fortune_, or maybe –"

"Fu? The owner of the spa I go to is called Fu."

"Really? Uh – Do you happen to know where he –"

"He lives in an apartment above his bar 'The Three Stars.' It's the big red building in Cannery Row."

"Thanks," Hiccup said.

"So," she said, stopping her typing, "here are the keys to Mr. McIntosh's house by the sea. Here's a map of town, and his house is right _there_, in front of Carmel Beach. It's a small town, you won't get lost."

"Thanks, Juliet!" Hiccup looked around. "Ja – Chris, we're leaving!"

Jack was playing with Toothless too. The black-haired teen seemed to be laughing at something Jack said. When he heard Hiccup, he quickly stood up.

"Well, I'm leaving, bro," Jack said, shaking the other kid's hand.

"See you another time, Chris," the boy said.

"Nice to meet you, PJ," Jack said, carrying Toothless.

When they were leaving, PJ gestured a laid-back salute at Hiccup. The latter merely waved goodbye.

"Who's the kid?"

"I don't know, just met him," Jack said. He added, "Liked him, he's nice."

* * *

The house they were to stay in was a one-floor beauty. With three fireplaces around the place, TVs almost everywhere, and beds that basically hypnotized you to sleep, the McIntosh estate seemed the perfect place to live an easy life. You could see the sun setting at the beach from your living room. Unfortunately, Hiccup, Toothless, and Jack couldn't afford to stay there more than two days. The leprechaun would soon strike, and they had to find Fu.

However, Jack had a small wish he wanted done.

"Hic, after we – after we find Fu, d'you think there's a chance I can – I can visit a friend?"

"A friend? Oh, the friend you said lived here? I think it would be better if we visit him tonight. Maybe he knows if Fu is really the owner of 'The Three Stars.'"

"Right, maybe he does."

"Do you know where he lives?"

"Yeah, wait."

Jack produced a folded page out of the pocket of his blue hoodie. He unfolded it. It had a very raw drawing of Jack with a smaller boy, and beneath, in terrible handwriting, there was an address.

"Uh, Jack?"

"Yeah?"

"How old is your friend?"

"About ten or eleven. Why?"

"_Ten_?"

"Yeah, he was a bit younger when I met him."

"Which was?"

"Last year."

* * *

After a few minutes of complete disorientation, Hiccup, Toothless, and Jack finally found the house. It turned out it was a few blocks form Mr. McIntosh's, but in Monterey, there are no addresses. You give out the location of your house with reference points and a few _left-of_'s and _right-in_'s. So, naturally, the boys got lost.

The house itself looked new. It had a lovely pale green color, which toned down the trees and accentuated the blue-ness of the sea.

Jack's heart was pounding. His hands were a bit sweaty. Wiping them with his hoodie, he took a deep breath, and rang the bell.

After some barking and shouting inside, the door opened.

A small boy, with hazel hair and big hazel eyes opened it. He wore pajamas (understandably, as it was almost ten o'clock) and held on to a fluffy stuffed rabbit.

When he saw Jack, his eyes widened in awe and his face slowly morphed into a big smile.

"Jack?"

"Hey there, Jaime."


End file.
